The latest chapter in a long-running saga surrounding a village pub is about to be written.
The Murton Arms on Moor Lane in Murton, near York, served the village for two centuries. But in recent years it has been closed.
Attempts to save and reopen it have so far met with failure. And now it looks set to reemerge as a café.
The Murton Arms, which also operated under the name the Bay Horse, was up for sale from 2019 to 2022.
In 2020 it was listed as an asset of community value again so that villagers could have an opportunity to reopen it – despite the owners objecting to the plans. But that didn’t happen.
In August 2022, owner Ruth Yeadon applied for planning permission to create an apartment on the ground floor of the Murton Arms.
But a planning inspector refused permission as it would have resulted in the loss of a valued community facility.
Now Mr and Mrs Armitage have submitted a planning application to turn the ground floor of the Murton Arms into a café, with separate residential accommodation on the first floor.
Planning documents say “at least part of the building has been in use as a public house for over two hundred years” having served Murton since at least 1805.
A new marketing exercise started in 2024, advertising the ground floor as being available for a commercial use.
“The outcome of the marketing is that no one came forward to continue the use of the public house or for an alternative community use. The only interest has been for either a café or restaurant,” documents state.
“It is understood from the applicant that the parish council consulted local residents on the proposal to convert the Murton Arms to a café through the neighbourhood plan process and the responses suggest the proposal has the support of local residents, parish council and two local cycling clubs.”
The application says that Murton has few facilities. “The proposed café that involves no change in the amount of floor space, would provide space for people to meet, relax and develop connections, just as they might within a public house.
“The social opportunities offered by the proposal are therefore comparable to those offered by the previous public house, so it is only reasonable to conclude that the proposed café will offer a similar community offering as a public house.”
It concludes: “No interest has been shown for the Murton Arms to continue to operate as a public house…
“On balance, changing the use of the Murton Arms to a café will offer significant social, economic and environmental benefits by securing the viable use for the building and providing a much-needed community facility.”
You can read and comment on the application here.
