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Plans for refurbishment of The Honest Miller pub in Brook, near Ashford, are revealed

A village pub saved from permanent closure could be refurbished with the addition of a holiday let and four new homes in land nearby.

The Honest Miller in Brook, near Ashford, looked like it might be lost when it was closed down and boarded up in February 2020, just weeks before the country plunged into lockdown.

The Honest Miller is set for refurbishment
The Honest Miller is set for refurbishment

Admiral Taverns, who owned the 16th-century inn, then put it on the market for around £500,000 a short while later - and it was snapped up by the Churchill Property Group (CPG).

Now they have submitted extensive plans for a revamp of the pub on The Street, conversion of existing buildings for a holiday rental, and erection of four houses on land off Troy Town Lane.

"In recent years The Honest Miller has had a number of tenants and it has been unsuccessful for several reasons, most notably caused by a lack of investment," Pat Heathcote, from CPG, explained earlier this year.

"Pubs and restaurants in a rural location like this need to be financially sustainable to ensure their long-term future and along with serving the local community, the pub will draw customers from a wider area."

Downstairs in the pub there would be partial demolition and re-arrangement of internal walls to create a commercial kitchen, beer cellar and chiller storage.

View of The Honest Miller pub in Brook, near Ashford, with adjacent land earmarked for new housing. Picture: Google Earth
View of The Honest Miller pub in Brook, near Ashford, with adjacent land earmarked for new housing. Picture: Google Earth

The plans also describe the upstairs being developed into a private dining and meeting room space to be used by commercial groups or larger parties seeking dining or hospitality experiences.

Beyond the inn itself, the existing vacant coach house would be converted into a self-contained two-bedroom holiday let, while four properties would be built on land fronting onto Troy Town Lane.

Mr Heathcote said: "The development of this smaller parcel of redundant land will enable the significant funding of the building and refurbishment works to the pub and coach house to take place."

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