16th-century inn near Much Wenlock could reopen

An application for a new premises licence has been submitted for The Inn at Harley, situated off the A458 near Much Wenlock.

Formerly The Plume of Feathers, the venue was set to reopen two years ago. An Instragram post on May 17, 2023 said it would be “coming soon” with the inn offering nine luxury en-suite bedrooms and “a warm welcome”.

“With the Plume of Feathers being closed for some time, we jumped at the chance to bring this wonderful building back to life, with the vision of creating a welcoming space for all,” reads the post.

It added that renovation was still in the early stages, but the team had been busy for a few months and “are super excited” about interiors, staffing and branding.

However, 18 months later, someone took to a Much Wenlock community page on Facebook asking what was happening, saying there was “very slow progress” and complaining “it looks like a sports car club has moved in”.

Other commenters said there appeared to be a lot of money spent, including replacing windows, but there were “lots of empty promises and little else”.

However, Harley View Limited is hopeful that the building could reopen.

The hours of operation, states the application, would be from 7am to 1.30am, with the supply of alcohol on and off the premises from 10am to 1am. This, it is understood, are the hours that were previously in place at the venue. The applicant also wants to be able to have live and recorded music taking place indoors from 11pm to 1am and for late night refreshments to be served from 11am to 1.30am.

The consultation period for anyone who wants to make a representation has now ended, with a decision due to made in due course.