Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporter.
A new farm shop and restaurant near Dorchester will use cheeses and meats produced by the farm business.
Dorset Council has approved plans to convert historic farm buildings in Dewlish into a farm shop, restaurant and workshop complex.
The scheme at Manor Farm Barn, Church Street, includes internal and external alterations to agricultural buildings and the construction of a new mixed-use building. The site lies within the Dorset National Landscape and Dewlish Conservation Area, and includes a Grade II-listed former stable adjoining the village hall.
The approved development will provide 60 square metres of farm shop space, 68 square metres for a restaurant including private dining, 60 square metres of flexible workshop space and a 60-square-metre office. Service areas and sanitary facilities will bring the total gross internal floor area to 410 square metres.
The courtyard will remain at the centre of the development, with outdoor seating, herb and vegetable planting and the potential for informal animal grazing. Visitors will also be able to see into a neighbouring barn where cheese-making is planned.
The applicant said the farm’s dairy operation had largely moved outside the village centre, leaving the buildings under-used. A separate permitted-development approval granted in July 2025 allowed for another barn beside the courtyard to become a butchery and cheese-making facility supplying the farm shop and restaurant.
Planning officers considered the diversification scheme an acceptable and sensitive reuse of the buildings. The council’s conservation officer concluded that the work would not harm heritage assets and would enhance the enclosed farmyard area.
The permission includes a condition requiring a protection scheme for the exposed east wall of the new east barn before other works begins. Any necessary strengthening, repairs and weather protection must be agreed in writing with the local planning authority and carried out in accordance with the approved details.
