Duke of Northumberland plans to bulldoze Grade-II listed school and build £7.9m hotel

Residents fear a £7.9million boutique hotel overlooking a castle used in the Harry Potter films will attract ‘rowdy hen and stag parties.’

The Duke of Northumberland has been given the green light to build the four-storey boutique hotel and spa overlooking Alnwick Castle.

The historic sprawling estate, now the second-largest privately inhabited castle after Windsor, bears musket pockmarks made by Oliver Cromwell’s army. 

It also marks the spot where Daniel Radcliffe and his fellow Hogwarts pupils had their first flying lesson in Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, and has been used as the backdrop for Blackadder, Robin Hood, Elizabeth, Mary Queen Of Scots, Transformers and Downton Abbey.

Millionaire aristocrat Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke, is now set to open the 47 room hotel boasting a restaurant, bar, fitness centre and meeting rooms.

The hotel will be funded Northumberland Estates – the business arm of the Percy family – and will replace the Grade II listed, 18th century Duchess’s Community High School.

But locals claim the hotel will attract parties, with, ‘hoards of young lads and lasses marauding over Alnwick turning our lovely sedate town into a rowdy party city.’

Alnwick Castle offers ‘broomstick lessons’ for wizarding fans and is home to the Duke of Northumberland Ralph Percy, 62, and his wife Duchess Jane, 60. 

Residents voiced concerns the ‘intrusive’ hotel would look ‘like an ugly modern prison’ and bring the medieval town to a standstill with traffic jams in the busy summer months.

Alnwick Town Council gave the plans the green light, despite saying: ‘The building is too large for this site on the historic northern entrance to Alnwick. 

‘One storey less would be far less intrusive.’

There is also anger over the increased pressure on parking in the area.

Steve Bowler, who lives next to the proposed hotel, said: ‘I am concerned about the parking arrangements in this area of town if another building is converted into a hotel.

‘It is already difficult to park in this area of town for over eight months of the year. 

‘The conversion of this building will only make this situation much worse. I hold residents parking but often can’t park here.

‘This is because you can park here for free for four hours a day and it is rarely monitored.

‘It seems unfair that living in Alnwick I have to pay to park on the street where I pay council tax whereas as a visitor can park for free.’

Locals have also criticised the proposed appearance of the hotel, which will include a swimming pool, spa and gym, and employ up to 50 staff.

Caroline Adams, 50, said: ‘I’ve seen the plans for the hotel and to me it’ll look more like an ugly modern prison block.

‘I’m all for investing in the town but it’s got to be right. 

‘The castle is the jewel in the crown of Northumberland, we mustn’t spoil it.’

Meanwhile some residents in the town, which has a population of just over 8,000, fear the hotel may attract hen and stag parties.

One resident said: ‘I know I sound like a Nimby and it’s hard to think about the pubs being open at the moment but sooner or later we’ll be back to normal and this hotel, I’m afraid, will attract parties.

‘The last thing we need is hoards of young lads and lasses marauding over Alnwick turning our lovely sedate town into a rowdy party city.’

Plans to convert the buildings and add an extension on the land to the rear, were submitted to the council planners by Northumberland Estates in May last year. 

With planning now granted, construction work could begin this Spring. 

The walled garden to the rear of the hotel will be converted into parking for up to 51 cars plus cycle storage. 

Northumberland Estates already has an operator lined up, with the team from the Alnwick boutique hotel, The Cookie Jar looking to take the running of the hotel on once complete.

Plans for the hotel were approved by the North Northumberland Local Area Council by a 6-2 majority last Thursday. 

Ancestors of the Percy family have appeared in the Domesday Book, featured in the works of Shakespeare, led the 1569 uprising against Elizabeth I, signed the Magna Carta, fought in the American War of Independence and been jailed over the Gunpowder Plot. 

Over the centuries, Alnwick has had so many incarnations, changing with every new monarch. 

During the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the Percys abandoned Alnwick as the north was considered too dangerous. 

By the 18th century they were back, and the place was abuzz. 

There was a staff of more than 200 maids, cooks, valets, butlers, grooms, ten priests and, at one point, even a resident executioner.  

Guy Munden, development planner at Northumberland Estates, said: ‘This is a great project for Alnwick, one which will bring tourists directly into the town centre and, at the same time, breathe new life into this historic site.

‘The Bailiffgate buildings have been empty since the Duchess’s High School left for their new premises back in 2016.

‘This project seeks to create the extra visitor accommodation the area has been shown to need as well as bringing new jobs to the town.

‘With more visitors looking to come to Northumberland even in the winter months, the hotel should bring a welcome boost to the town’s tourism trade.

‘Ideally located just a short walk from both the Castle and the town centre, visitors will be able to take advantage of all Alnwick’s many amenities from shops and cafés to pubs, museums and other tourist attractions such as Barter Books.

‘The hotel is also a huge construction project, and we are keen to involve as many local business and tradesmen as possible during the building phase, hopefully providing a much-needed boost to employment in the area at this very difficult time.’