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‘Outstanding’ 300-year-old York mansion set to be opened as a restaurant

Tue 3 Jun, 2025 by YorkMix

One of the reception rooms. Image: planning documents

Filed Under: Changing city, News

Plans are now in to turn an historic riverside mansion into a bar and restaurant called The Cumberland.

The new restaurant would be created over three floors of Cumberland House, on Kings Staith in York.

Dating from about 1710, the Grade I listed building is now empty, having last been occupied by the offices of Hague and Dixon solicitors.

The restaurant plans have been submitted by Cumberland House (York) Limited, a company owned by Shaun and Jamie-Leigh Binns.

They run Lil’s Bar and Bistro and The Waterfront next door to the mansion.

An attempt by previous owners the Helmsley Group to turn Cumberland House into a home was rejected on the grounds of the frequency of flooding.

Helmsley then put it up for sale for £1m-plus in 2023.

Photograph: Supplied

Turning it into a restaurant now represents “the optimal viable use of the asset” , a planning statement says.

“It is positioned within an area which regularly floods, and the fabric of the building is in need of urgent repairs to prevent further degradation.

“Due to the prominent positioning of the asset within the city centre it is susceptible to anti-social behaviour if it continues to be left vacant.

“Therefore, the building is at risk of further serious deterioration in its condition. The proposed development offers an opportunity to provide those urgent repairs and secure a future viable use and as such continuous repair.”

Cumberland House is now attached to a 20th century rear extension. Under the plans, this attachment would be severed.

The applicants also run Lil’s Bar and The Waterfront, next door to Cumberland House. Photograph © Google Street View

The basement area would have its concrete ramp removed and become a storage area for the new restaurant.

On the ground floor the alterations would include “the opening of a currently blocked historic archway in the entrance hall. In the room to the east of the main entrance a ‘bar’ (table service only) will be added.”

A commercial kitchen and toilets would also be installed.

The planning statement adds: “The proposals for the first floor also aim to provide the building with a viable future use and again will enable the space to be used as part of the restaurant…

“In the rooms to the south and west of the main staircase, modern partition walls will be removed to increase space for diners, this will also allow for greater appreciation for the historic floorplan and decoration.”

The application concludes: “The proposals have been sensitively designed to avoid altering the external appearance of the classically proportioned building, taking special care to not disturb how the principal façade which is experienced from both Kings Staith and in views from across the Ouse is viewed.”

Long history

Cumberland House was built around 1710 for William Cornwall, a brewer and tanner who took possession of the land in 1692.

Cornwall was made Sheriff in 1700, and served as Lord Mayor in 1712 and again in 1725.

It is a prominent part of York’s riverside. Photograph: YorkMix

“The name ‘Cumberland House’, dates to 1746 when Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, briefly visited York,” a heritage statement says.

“During this period, the houses on present-day Cumberland Street were undergoing extensive repairs and as part of these works, the street was renamed in honour of Prince William who is best remembered for his triumph over the Jacobites at Culloden on 16th April 1746.

“Following the death of William Cornwall in 1733, Cumberland House was utilised for a variety of purposes, initially as a warehouse and later as a British Workman’s Café.

“Little is known about the subsequent use of Cumberland House throughout the late 18th century, other than that it fell into disrepair, most likely following disuse.”

In the late 19th century it was bought by the York Church of England Sunday School for £800.

“In 1925, Cumberland House became the headquarters of the YWCA and was opened by Princess Mary,” the statement adds.

Hague, Dixon, and Burn Solicitors acquired the building in 1969 and used it as their offices until 2022.

The heritage statement says the building is of “outstanding” architectural interest.

A licensing application for Cumberland House has already been submitted.

You can read and comment on the planning application here.


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