More houses will be added to a project to convert a stately home on the outskirts of Swindon into apartments.

Developer City & Country is already converting the Grade II-listed mansion at Burderop Park – between Wroughton and Chiseldon – into flats and building houses.

The company was given permission in 2017 to turn the mansion, which was made into offices in the 1970s, into 25 apartments.

As well as demolishing some modern office extensions to the Palladian house, which dates back 400 years, the company is building 54 houses in the grounds.

Now that number will now be 60, after planners at Swindon Borough Council gave permission for another six new houses – four-bedroom semi-detached, constructed in red brick, to be put up.

The developer says the houses are needed as part of its work to keep the main historic house viable.

It said: “In order to safeguard Burderop Park’s future and to fund the conservation works required we are proposing a residential-led plan.

"The masterplan sets out to reintegrate the character and setting of Burderop Park through sensitive conversion of the historic buildings.”

The developer and architects say they have made efforts to reflect the nature of the buildings that used to be on the site in the new houses, adding: “The new homes proposed in this area of the site are grouped informally in an arrangement which draws on the low-density configuration of buildings and spaces of the historic farm.

They are positioned to work with the existing trees, and making good use of the land.

The developer said: “Warm red brick is proposed, matching the appearance of the brick buildings within Burderop Park, and is proposed to be topped with clay plain tiles."

The new-build houses will be organised in a loop around a central area of parkland and screened from the main building by trees.

Access to the site will be from both Brimble Hill and Hodson Road.

City & Country added: “The proposed scheme will enhance the setting of the historic buildings and secure a viable and sustainable long-term future that safeguards the special character of Burderop Park and the heritage assets within it.

The house was built in the early 17th century, then rebuilt in its current form in the 18th century.