City & Country – which specialises in restoring and converting major historic buildings – plans to transform Shepton Mallet Prison, which dates back to 1610, into a residential development including a café and museum space.

The development will mark City & County’s second successful prison-to-residential planning consent, as it also looks to convert Kingston Prison into 230 homes.

“We’re already synonymous with the restoration and conversion of some highly unusual and challenging historic buildings, and it’s incredibly exciting to be charting new territory as the first developer in the UK to convert a prison into residential use,” said Helen Moore, managing director of City & Country.

City & Country acquired Shepton Mallet prison along with Kingston, Gloucester and Dorchester prisons from the Ministry of Justice in December 2014.

The approval for the Shepton Mallet prison conversion comes after months of public consultation and engagement with the local council.

The conversion will see the former Treadwheel House and workshop buildings turned into residential use, while the addition of sensitively designed buildings will provide additional housing and result in a range of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes with private parking.

“People might assume that a prison must be an imposing, constrained structure, but the listed parts of Shepton Mallet Prison boast many fine Victorian features, not to mention the hugely impressive 30ft high stone walls, while the cells themselves actually lend themselves to residential conversion,” Helen added.

“Buildings like this obviously demand a design-led and highly creative masterplan, but we believe people are going to be impressed by the transformation.”