A £10 MILLION redevelopment of a former hospital in the shadow of York Minster has been unveiled.

A team of about 50 craftsmen – from stonemasons to plasterers – is half-way through a two-year project to transform the ex-Nuffield Purey Cust Hospital into luxury homes.

The nine townhouses are expected to cost almost a million pounds each, with the three apartments expected to sell for half that amount.

They properties have already attracted interest from as far away as Switzerland, Luxembourg and even America, as well as the York area and London, said Mike Green, managing director of Gem Construction and a director of Lanstone Conservation Ltd, which are together carrying out the restoration project on the Grade 11 listed property.

Speaking yesterday during an open day, he said some prospective buyers were former University of York students who had gone on to global success and wanted to return to their old university city. There were also high profile figures interested, he said, although he declined to disclose names.

The Purey Cust Nursing Home, designed by the renowned York architect Walter Brierley, was built on land leased from the Dean and Chapter during the First World War, following the retirement of Canon Arthur Purey Cust as Dean of the Minster.

As a mark of respect, a considerable sum of money was raised by people from all walks of life and the Canon decided to use it to found the hospital.

Adjacent to the Brierley building is Purey Cust House, built of ashlar stone between 1824-1825 in Tudor ‘Gothick’ style, which was originally intended as a purpose built residence for Minster canons.

Nuffield Hospitals took over all the buildings in the 1960s, but then relocated to a new site on Haxby Road in the 2000s, leaving the site mostly vacant – although the buildings were used to create a set for the TV drama series Eternal Law last year.

Mr Green said the project had included the demolition of modern extensions built at the back by Nuffield, which had accommodated operating theatres.

He added that the site, inside the city walls and with stunning views of the Minster, was undoubtedly the greatest location in the city.