Alan Carr to turn castle potting shed into cafe and shop at Scottish estate

Plans have been lodged to transform derelict buildings on the grounds of Alan Carr’s Scottish castle into a community cafe and shop.

The Celebrity Traitors winner bought Ayton Castle in the Scottish Borders earlier this year and plans to transform it as part of a TV show deal with Disney+.

The castle, bought for over £3m, has 17 bedrooms and various outbuildings dotted around the 160-acre estate.

Now, plans have been lodged with the Scottish Borders Council to revamp the old potting shed and other ancillary buildings into a community cafe and shop.

The site is located a short distance from the main castle, within a walled garden near the gardeners’ quarters.

According to the plans, the cafe will have space for 24 covers inside and 24 outside, plus a sun terrace that offers extra capacity.

A new canopy will be installed at the front of the building for covered outdoor seating.

Alan Carr bought Ayton Castle earlier this year. STV News

The building will be mainly made of corrugated black metal with timber roofing and large windows and skylights, allowing for tonnes of natural light.

Inside, the cafe’s service area will feature a curved counter with appliances such as a coffee machine, countertop oven and washing facilities. On the opposite wall, there will be shelves for people to pick up grab-and-go food.

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The decor will take inspiration from the potting shed’s former use, “recycling and upcycling agricultural and rustic materials to create a distinct internal character”.

In addition, there will be a shop selling produce, toilets accessed from the outside and various storage and staff areas, contained within the revamped building.

In an accompanying heritage impact report, planners said the potting shed was in a “severely derelict state” and that any development to the site would be “highly positive”.

The report stated: “Overall, we objectively view that the proposed works will have minimal negative impact on the significance of the potting shed and as a whole provide a positive development in the life story of this single storey range of estate buildings.

“The proposal by our client to preserve and convert the potting sheds into a cafe and estate shop is both an appropriate change of use and one which meets all the basic principles of preservation, conservation and long-term sustainability while managing change in historic buildings.”

It will be up to the council to decide at a later date whether plans can move forward.