Samlesbury Hall to get events marquee in its grounds as part of wedding venue's 700th anniversary plans

An events marquee will be installed in the grounds of Samlesbury Hall to help the historic venue to mark its 700th anniversary.

South Ribble Borough Council’s planning committee gave the go-ahead to the structure, which will be put in place for a trial 12-month period. Permission was also granted for a smaller kitchen marquee.

Planning officer Debbie Roberts told committee members the two tents would be screened by woodland and so not visible from the Grade I-listed hall, nor any other nearby property.

The main marquee will provide space for special events planned for the ‘Samlesbury 700’ celebrations, as well providing “certainty” for others that are part of the hall’s annual calendar, but which may be affected by bad weather.

The committee heard the new facilities would not be used to host the weddings for which the venue is popular - and would not stage events of their own while a wedding was taking place in the hall.

The authority’s environmental health officers had requested a condition be put on the marquees requiring them to be vacated by 6pm - due to concerns about the increased capacity for noise to travel at night - which the hall had been prepared to accept. However, the committee opted to permit a 10pm cut-off instead.

Committee member Pete Pillinger said: “These historic buildings cost the earth to maintain [and] this is a valuable business for the area.

“I don’t see with [the marquees] being right over by the car park and by the golf [area] that it actually materially affects the listed structures, so it supports keeping a valuable listed building in operation.”

Fellow member Phil Smith said that while he thought it was “apt” to introduce the marquees for the duration of the 700th anniversary year, he would not want to see them become “a semi-permanent feature”.

Debbie Roberts said the authority had agreed to carry out two sets of noise assessment at a major event planned at the hall in June - the outcome of which, along with any complaints received over the next 12 months, would be taken into account when it came to deciding the future of the marquees.

She described the main tent as being akin to the size of a bungalow - at 13m wide, 31m long and with a maximum height of 6.5m - while members heard the kitchen marquee will not be used for cooking, but would allow for food to be stored in ovens to be kept warm.

Samlesbury and Cuerdale Parish Council had objected to the plans because of the greenbelt location of the hall and concerns over the impact of the marquees on the building.

However, the committee granted both planning permission and the necessary listed building consent.