Wellbeing centre plans for derelict former boarding school

The site has been redundant for ten years

A derelict former boarding school in North Devon which closed after a child abuse scandal 10 years ago could come back into use as a hospitality, wellbeing, education and heritage centre.

Chelfham Mill School near Bratton Fleming catered for 40 to 50 boys with emotional and behavioural problems between 1967 and 2015.

A not-for-profit community interest company says has had to “endure many years of negativity and risk surrounding this property” and has now applied for planning permission to tranform the site.

The Growforward Project says it is “an eyesore” and a “magnet for vandalism and crime” and is associated with “historical stories of sadness.”

It wants to restore the buildings and propel the former school into a “compelling and beautiful multifunctional destination for visitors from across the country as well as providing a beating heart of the local community, one that will increase the sense of wellbeing and connection for all around it.”

A wellbeing, learning and retreat will go into the former schoolhouse, along with a watermill and orchard area and a cafe, bistro and riverside deck, an accommodation block. A heritage centre will focus on the area’s steam railway, viaduct and watermill and biodiversity.

No new proposed buildings are proposed.

The applicants say planning permission has to be granted before February so the purchase can be completed.

The project team is made up of former pupils, staff, local residents and supporters who have agreed a deal to buy the property from the owner, a company called Chelfham Mills.

It has already tidied up the site and paid a deposit, using private money. The rest will be funded by a commercial lender but it was also apply for heritage-related funding pots.

The redevelopment is estimated to cost between £500,000 and £1 million to get it to a stage where it can be self-financing.

Growforward has engaged with the community about use of the site. It aims to create 20 full-time jobs within the first year of opening.

The application continued:“Overall, the site will support the creation of a centre that is synonymous with positive professional development, mental health and self-development, by utilising various professionally accredited specialist organisations coupled with a natural and holistic approach to the restoration and respect for the area and local community.

“Moreover it will incorporate a year-round tourist and visitor facility by way of accommodation and eating establishments, as well as the various permanent jobs that would be created and required to deliver that provision.”

The application is scaled down from a previous one. Permission was granted for housing on the school site in 2021. The disused Grade II listed Chelfham Viaduct towers over the schoo.

Chelfham Mill School closed down after it was at the centre of an inquiry into physical abuse of pupils which centred on restraint methods used by staff.

A report by Ofsted in 2015 found young people were not adequately safeguarded and the school had “declined in effectiveness”.

After a two-year inquiry, a member of staff was convicted of indecency against a boy at the school in the 1990s.