Plans for a town centre restaurant to add a café and a guest house to a 600-year-old Grade-II listed building in the town centre have been approved.

Part of Corpus Christi Hall, in Earl Street, Maidstone, the former home of Maidstone Grammar School, will now have a café on the ground floor next to Spanish restaurant La Taberna.

The family run business will also be expanding its kitchen and adding boutique hotel with four guests bedrooms with showers.

A manager's flat and officers are planned for the first floor.

Carla Munoz, who helps run the business with her parents, brother and partner is hoping to open the café by next summer and hotel by Christmas.

The 34-year-old said: "We want to show people the character of the building. There was an old fire place and loads of historic parts of the building members of the public couldn't see before.

"We'll be open a café near the Earl Street entrance and will be offering wine tasting, Spanish charcuteries, coffee and functions such as birthdays, Christmas and hen-dos."

Ms Munoz is expecting the café to hold around 30 people.

She expects the changes to cost around £800,000.

The building is thought to have been built in 1422 and most recently used the upper floors as offices for barristers, while the ground floor has been occupied by La Taberna.

Its courtyard has been used by car rental company Avis.

The project won't result in any changes to the exterior of the building and would improve the use of the building by the public, according to a planning statement.

Planning documents outlined how developers would take a cautious approach to the design of the facilities given the "sensitive location" of the building, which can be found at the bottom of Earl Street opposite Fremlin Walk.

A planning statement said: "The council will expect proposals to respect the high quality and distinctive landscapes and settings of the borough.

"In order to achieve high quality design, the council expects that proposals will positively respond to and, where appropriate, enhance the character of their surroundings.

"It is important that development contributes to its context."

The origin of the Corpus Christi Hall remains a mystery, but it is later associated with the Fraternity of Corpus Christi and Maidstone Grammar School.

In the mid 1500s the property was handed over to the Crown and was later sold by King Edward VI to the town of Maidstone for £200 to house a grammar school.

However, it was temporarily closed just five years later after the town's sympathy with the protestant rebellion against Queen Mary by Sir Thomas Wyatt, of Allington Castle, in 1554 caused the forfeiture of the town's right to run a school.

It was later reopened in 1558 and didn't leave until 1871 when it moved to Tonbridge Road for 59 years.

In 1930 it moved to its current home in Barton Road.#

View the plans here, with reference 22/500685/FULL.

The town centre building was also previously used as a wedding venue back in 2017, as well as hosting some ghost tours.