South Shields' boarded-up Marsden Inn pub could be brought back to life as supermarket

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has received an application for the Marsden Inn site, which sits on the corner of Redwell Lane and Marsden Lane near the coast.

Last year (2024), the pub announced it would be closing at the end of May to allow for “future development” and thanked customers for their support over the years.

The news came shortly after the pub and hotel had been put up for sale for £475,000 and at the time of the pub’s closure announcement, the business was no longer on the market.

The site has since been partially boarded up and is now surrounded by fencing, with the former pub’s signature signage and decoration also removed.

New plans for the site aim to demolish the building’s existing north west rear extension and to convert part of the former pub’s ground floor into a retail use.

The proposed development is described in various planning documents as a “food retail unit”, “small supermarket” and a “convenience store”.

Proposed works include a “rear single storey extension, new retail entrance/additional doorways, widening of [the] west vehicle entrance and other external works.”

Submitted site plans show parking provision for the proposed retail use, including cycle parking and disabled and family parking bays, along with a delivery area and three electric vehicle parking spaces.

Floor plans confirm the retail unit application only applies to part of the pub’s ground floor, namely the part of the pub running adjacent to Marsden Lane.

The planning application submitted by Moorgate Property Ltd also confirms the development would include the “retention of residual ground floor” as a “public house / restaurant” and that there would be no change to first floor accommodation uses at the site.

The Marsden Inn is included on South Tyneside Council’s local list, which lists “buildings, structures and spaces that do not meet the criteria for national listing by Historic England but are still important to the people of South Tyneside.”

Although “being on the [local] list does not mean there are any extra planning controls for buildings, structures, or spaces”, the council’s website states, an asset’s “importance to the local area will be considered” before planning decisions are made.

The Marsden Inn is described as an “imposing building” which was “built between 1938 and 1939” and the local list notes its “confection of mock Tudor beams and pseudo-heraldry.”

Works to the building to create the retail store include the “demolition of the kitchen extension to the rear of the property and an extension to the existing lounge”.

A heritage statement submitted with the planning application acknowledged the building’s heritage status and confirmed the planning application aims to “convert the ground floor of the north western wing […] into a small supermarket”.

The heritage statement said the building was of “medium heritage significance” and that proposed plans would bring the building “back into viable and worthwhile communal use”.

Although the “interior of the pub has been stripped back to its skeleton”, it was noted that “ornate ceilings in the existing lounge and kitchen” would be “retained as part of the proposed development and protected by suspended ceilings”.

The heritage statement confirmed that “the exterior of the pub, which is largely distinctive as an inter-war public house, will largely be retained”, with “only minor adjustments proposed, such as the installation of the new store entrance, to accommodate the new supermarket”.

It was argued that the “public benefit brought about by the proposal [bringing the building back into use] ultimately outweighs the minor impact to its architectural significance”.

The heritage statement adds: “The degree of exterior alterations which have been proposed, will not be sufficient enough to disrupt, or detract from, the distinctive mock Tudor architectural design.

“Instead, the proposed works will improve the baseline appearance of the building and bring the structure back into viable and worthwhile community use.”

The planning application states the development would create three full-time jobs and eight part-time roles, and lists proposed opening hours for the retail store of 6am-11pm, seven days a week.

A noise impact assessment submitted with the plans concludes the plans would “have no negative impact upon the nearest residents and should not cause complaints.”

A retail sequential test submitted to council officials also confirms alternative units in the wider area were explored for the development but did not offer “a reasonably available or sequentially preferable alternative site.”

A decision on the planning application will be made following a period of council consultation.

Comments can be made on the plan, via South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website, until May 15, 2025.

For more information on the planning application, or to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: 250237