Lake District ice house to become café at Belsfield Hotel

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 13 Oct, 07:02 · Archive

A 19th-century stone pavilion at The Belsfield Hotel in Bowness has been approved to become a lakeside café.

The Lake District National Park Authority has approved plans to convert a historic pavilion within the grounds of The Belsfield Hotel on Kendal Road into a café. The building, a small stone and slate structure overlooking Windermere, dates to the 19th century and is considered a curtilage-listed building due to its association with the Grade II-listed hotel.

The approved plans, submitted by Alison Mudd on behalf of Belsfield Opco Limited, include a small extension to provide storage and toilet facilities, the reopening of historic doorways and the addition of glass canopies on either side of the building. The café will be linked to the hotel.

Planning officers said the structure may originally have been used to store ice before refrigeration became common, though evidence also suggests it served as a garden room for residents and guests, with windows overlooking the lake and a fireplace indicating year-round use. Concerns were initially raised over proposals to remove the building's long-established front veranda. Following those comments, the plans were amended to retain the original canopy, which officers welcomed as preserving views that have existed for more than a century.

How it is being reported

• 19th century Ice House at hotel to become new lakeside caféA historic lakeside pavilion within the grounds of one of Bowness' best-known hotels is set to be transformed into a new café after planning permission was granted by the Lake District National Park Authority.NW Evening Mail · 13 Oct, 06:00
• 19th century Ice House at hotel to become new lakeside caféA historic lakeside pavilion within the grounds of one of Bowness' best-known hotels is set to be transformed into a new café after planning permission was granted by the Lake District National Park Authority.Westmorland Gazette · 13 Oct, 06:00

In this story: The Belsfield Hotel · Bowness · Lake District National Park Authority · Windermere

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