A famous old restaurant near Wigan which closed during the pandemic could be turned back into homes
A homes plan has been unveiled for a former village restaurant that will take it back to its 17th century roots
A once popular high-class restaurant near Wigan, which closed at the outbreak of the Covid pandemic and never re-opened, has become the subject of a residential planning application.
But while former customers of the High Moor at Wrightington will be sad that chances of its revival now look even slimmer than ever, the proposed blueprint would actually be taking it back to its historic origins.
Because long before diners, including regular Dave Whelan, were going for nice Sunday lunches and evening meals there, the site was occupied by several cottages, dating back at least to the 17th century and perhaps beyond.
And they are still there, engulfed by several different extensions that were grafted on to make the premises larger when it first became an eatery and there is also a bungalow that was built for the restaurant’s original owners.
An application has now been submitted to West Lancashire Borough Council for the more recent parts of the development to be stripped away, the bungalow demolished, the original cottages refurbished and nine new homes be built on the site as well for rental, keeping one as the gatehouse to Harrock Hall.
It is the brainchild of businessman and Wigan Youth Zone co-founder Bill Ainscough at the end of whose drive the High Moor sits.
He said: “David and Simon Jones ran the High Moor for a long time but it shut in March 2020 at the start of the Covid pandemic and never re-opened.
“They had it on the market for about three years but could not sell it, so eventually my wife and I bought it because we didn’t want it turning into something else.
“We bought it with all the furniture inside it and tried to lease it. It needed a quality chef so it could be a ‘destination restaurant.’ Where it is means that it is not going to do will if it isn’t.
“We tried to lease it for 18 months and, while there were a few people interested, we didn’t think they were appropriate.
“And, let’s face it, the hospitality industry, especially for rural restaurants, has been in the doldrums for quite a while now. People don’t want all the hassle.
“So it came to the point of thinking ‘it’s six years since it closed now: we’ve got to do something with it,’ and so we decided to take the residential path.”
Mr Ainscough commissioned a heritage expert to look into the history of the buildings and a large amount of detail was unearthed about who lived there at certain times over the centuries and who were its owners.
This includes ownership of the Harrock Hall estate by Robert Joseph Gerard-Dicconson of Wrightington Hall who took it over in the late 19th century. Wrightington Hall would eventually become the Wrightington Hospital we know today.
Mr Ainscough said: “It’s quite exciting really to think that we will be bringing these cottages back to life.”
Ward councillors and parishes have until November 20 to register any issues about the application.