Andrew Jackson is seeking planning permission to convert the tower, located in an orchard between the hamlets of Wilsons Cross and Glewstone west of Ross-on-Wye, and to build a new single-storey accommodation next to it, The Hereford Times reports. 

This would be home to the two proposed bedrooms, while the tower alone would serve as the main entrance hallway with a study above.

According to a statement with the application, the new, single-storey element “would be screened entirely, leaving only limited public views of the upper reaches of the water tower.”

The tower’s “primacy” within the immediate landscape would be maintained, the statement added. 

Rather than forming a new opening onto the narrow Daffaluke Lane, the proposed house would be accessed through a track along the field boundary from a current opening to the northeast.

The proposed home would be in an area “where large four- and five-bedroom houses predominate”, according to the planning statement. 

It is until 24 September, that the application can be commented on. A decision is due by 5 October.