Building work is well under way to give a new lease of life to a long-empty village landmark.

Plans (21/00501/B) to convert Manxonia House into a farm shop and tea rooms were approved in June 2021.

Manxonia House was originally built as a boys’ school in Victorian times. It has stood empty for a number of years but its last use was as a corner shop.

It was controversially purchased by Port St Mary Commissioners 2016 for £191,000 but two years later the authority admitted it didn’t have the money to complete the refurbishment.

The building was sold in 2020 for £227,500. The farm shop will be located in the existing shop unit with a new bakery at the side of the building. A new glazed extension on Bay View Road will form the entrance to a two-storey tear rooms.