Grade II-listed house linked to fugitive king and Telford Development Corporation set to be turned into flats

An historic house linked to the adventures of fugitive king Charles II could have its fortunes revived under new plans.

New owners of the vandal-hit Upper House in Church Street, Madeley, have breathed new life into plans to refurbish the building and turn the Grade II-listed property into eight flats.

The much-altered £1.1 million property is said to have been built circa 1621 by Royalist sympathiser and mining magnate Francis Woolf.

Woolf hid the king in a barn in the grounds after the monarch’s defeat at the Battle of Worcester. The name King Charles Barns is given to developments nearby.

The king's perilous adventure continued to Boscobel House on Shropshire’s border with Staffordshire, where he famously hid up a tree – the Royal Oak. He then went into exile before eventually reclaiming the throne and re-establishing the monarchy.

Boscobel House became a tourist attraction but Upper House had a different fate as part of Telford Development Corporation, then Madeley Magistrates Court, before becoming offices, and falling into disuse.

Previous plans to use the property for housing had been approved but were not completed.

The cost of converting the building was understood to be prohibitive for previous owners.

Now London-based real estate company J W Property Invest has told planners that planning approval was granted in 2020 for a similar scheme.

This means that the principle of the residential development is acceptable and the new owner has submitted plans on that basis.

The site lies within a World Heritage Site and the Severn Gorge Conservation Area where developments are tightly controlled.

Planning agents say it is believed that the property has been vacant since around 2012 and has been "prone to vandalism, theft, fire and water penetration and damage”.

They added that the building and the site as a whole are in need of complete refurbishment.

Agent KAD Architectural Design, of Llandudno, has told planners that its client is "keen to enliven the property and to undertake the proposed conversion works”.

"The overall scheme will be completed to a high standard and will create much needed accommodation for single professional and young couples within the local area and ultimately enliven the state of the current dilapidated building.

"Given the overall condition of the building and the plot as a whole and the fact that previous planning applications have been approved for the conversion of the building into eight residential units, we hope the scheme will be given favourable consideration."

Details of the scheme can be found on the Telford & Wrekin Council planning portal (reference number TWC/2026/0561).