Plans to expand Melton's iconic pork pie shop and create a new cafe

An impression of what the new cafe will look like next-door to Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe if plans are approved

Melton Borough Council has received proposals for the grade two listed Dickinson and Morris building, on Nottingham Street, to expand into the next-door premises occupied by Mrs King’s, which is currently used by the company to make pork pies and other baked products.

There would be one shop entrance, rather than the existing two, and the increased shop space would flow into a new eating area, called Ye Cosy Café, harking back to a cafe which was on the premises before the last war.

The application would see two vacant Bell Centre units used for the cafe, with customer toilets and access to the shop area.

An artist's impression of the planned new interior lay-out of Ye Olde Pork Shoppe, showing the shop area and a passageway into a new adjoining cafe

Visitors to the shop will get a chance to see pies being made in the bakery to the rear through a large window and there also proposals to create an information area detailing the history of pork pie-making in Melton and the origins of the shop, which was opened in 1855.

A report with the planning application states: “Currently, there is an intention for Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe to return to some of it’s earlier roots, in which it had a café known as Ye Cosy Café on the first floor, by enabling some ‘eat-in’ potential within the ground floor area of the shop.

"This is to enable customers and visitors alike to fully appreciate the bakeries fayre, alongside the opportunity to witness how the landmark 1851 pies are made through a window wall to the rear of the shop.

“Equally, flexibility for how the space is used to allow for in-store demonstrations of traditional pork pie making to take place is also a key part of how the shop can provide continued promotion of Melton Mowbray’s food heritage.”

Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe and the adjoining Mrs King's unit - a planning application seeks to merge the two buildings and create just one entrance

There will be a refurbishment of the shop although the application says that the heritage aspects of the building will not be compromised.

The report adds: “This proposal seeks to bring about a more realistic and viable solution to the long-term use of Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, as a retail outlet, but moreover as vibrant part of Melton Mowbray’s food heritage.

"The care with which refurbishment and restoration of the buildings will be made, alongside the opportunity to open the space up to allow visitors, local people and customers alike to take in the unique qualities of this building and the products that have been baked here for centuries, is likely to have a positive impact on the retail centre of Melton Mowbray as a whole.”

Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe remains one of the town’s most important tourist attractions.

Samworth Brothers bought the property after it was devastated by fire in 1992 and the company carried out a major renovation of the building, liaising with English Heritage.

Visitors to the shop in the early 1900s were able to eat pork pies on the premises and take afternoon tea so the proposals for Ye Cosy Café will return the property to how it was used back then.