Heslington Road amounts to 40 acres just minutes from the historic city centre with an ancient orchard, daffodil field, large cricket field and a bowling green. At its heart are a group of Grade II listed buildings known as The Retreat.
The Retreat was founded in 1796 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has provided pioneering psychiatric care to the community for almost 300 years.
The main buildings closed in 2018 as services were rationalised to offer more modern provision elsewhere in the city. The sale of the Heslington Road site will allow further investment in those facilities long term.
We are now embarking on extensive public consultation with the local community, heritage organisations and local interest groups on how best to give the estate and its historic buildings a new future.
Our Development Director James Woodmansee, said: “The exchange of contracts is a significant milestone and marks the start of formal and informal consultation on the future legacy of The Retreat.
“We hope to be able to convert the Grade II listed buildings into residential which will provide a range of new homes while preserving their beautiful exterior while also strategically placing some new build houses, discreetly on the site. These will include some affordable homes.
“The extensive grounds include a tennis court, a cricket pitch and bowling green which are currently rarely used and we hope to speak to local clubs and groups about their future use.
“The orchard and daffodil meadow will remain and we would hope to retain the spirit of The Retreat which offered a place of calm restoration with the creation of a peace and tranquillity garden which would be open to all.
“We are hugely respectful of the Quaker history at The Retreat and we are already in discussions with a newly formed Heritage Group on how best to be able to record and celebrate that legacy.”
It is early days in the journey but we would hope to be able to submit a planning application by the end of this year.
For more information about The Retreat and the work of the Quakers please visit this dedicated website which will be regularly updated with news of consultation events.
The Retreat was founded in 1796 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has provided pioneering psychiatric care to the community for almost 300 years.
The main buildings closed in 2018 as services were rationalised to offer more modern provision elsewhere in the city. The sale of the Heslington Road site will allow further investment in those facilities long term.
We are now embarking on extensive public consultation with the local community, heritage organisations and local interest groups on how best to give the estate and its historic buildings a new future.
Our Development Director James Woodmansee, said: “The exchange of contracts is a significant milestone and marks the start of formal and informal consultation on the future legacy of The Retreat.
“We hope to be able to convert the Grade II listed buildings into residential which will provide a range of new homes while preserving their beautiful exterior while also strategically placing some new build houses, discreetly on the site. These will include some affordable homes.
“The extensive grounds include a tennis court, a cricket pitch and bowling green which are currently rarely used and we hope to speak to local clubs and groups about their future use.
“The orchard and daffodil meadow will remain and we would hope to retain the spirit of The Retreat which offered a place of calm restoration with the creation of a peace and tranquillity garden which would be open to all.
“We are hugely respectful of the Quaker history at The Retreat and we are already in discussions with a newly formed Heritage Group on how best to be able to record and celebrate that legacy.”
It is early days in the journey but we would hope to be able to submit a planning application by the end of this year.
For more information about The Retreat and the work of the Quakers please visit this dedicated website which will be regularly updated with news of consultation events.