Couples who get married at one of Swindon’s most historic and splendid buildings might soon be able to spend their wedding night there as well.

Swindon Borough Council, which owns and operates the 18th century Palladian mansion of Lydiard House as a wedding and events venue has put in an application for planning permission to convert three rooms used as meeting spaces into a bridal bedroom suite for happy couples.

The application, to its own planning department, also includes a refurbishment of the Luxborough Suite where weddings are held.

But the main work will be to convert three rooms on the first floor of the service wing of the house used for meetings and an adjacent store room into the bridal suite and a next-door gathering room.

The largest meeting room would become the bridal suite’s bedroom, the store room leading off it would be the bathroom and a smaller meeting room at the other end of the main room would become a dressing room for the residents.

Another conference room nearby would become a gathering room decked out for guests at weddings and functions.

As the building is Grade I-listed the council’s application is at pains to point out that the new plan will not cause any damage or diminution to its fabric and particular care is taken on the drainage from the en-suite bathroom on the first floor, making sure leaks will not damage rooms downstairs.

The application says: “The proposed scheme looks to improve the aesthetic and functionality of these spaces to bring the hotel facilities up to the aspired standards for accommodation at such a prestigious location.

“A specialist heritage assessment of the works has been included in the application documents.

It says: “Overall, this group of proposals will result in no change to the significance of Lydiard House, the Church of St Mary, or the registered park and garden.

“The redecorating the two dining rooms and the adjacent corridor in the historic service wing of Lydiard House will not remove any historic fabric or fittings and are cosmetic.

“This aspect of the proposals will result in no change to the significance of Lydiard House. The works related to the creation of the bridal suite will retain the current, historic form of the spaces and return them to bedroom use. The works to create the bridal suite will have a negligible positive impact on the significance of Lydiard House.”