Plans Submitted to Turn Gosforth's Former Barclays Bank into a Cafe and Wine Bar

One of the most recognisable buildings on Gosforth High Street could be brought back into everyday use. Plans have been submitted to Newcastle City Council to convert the ground floor of the former Barclays bank at 59 High Street into a new café and wine bar called Kraven.

The application, by Sort Limited, describes a warm and inviting space that would work through the day as a café serving hot drinks and light bites, roughly from breakfast time to early evening, before turning to a relaxed wine bar in the evening. The plans are explicit that this is not a late-night venue: there would be no dancefloor, no DJ booth and no loud music, the emphasis instead on a comfortable neighbourhood spot.

The building is a genuine High Street landmark. It opened in 1894 as a branch of the North East Banking Company, became Martin's Bank in 1928, and traded as Barclays from 1969 until the branch closed in 2022, close to 130 years of banking on the site. The handsome upper floors are already back in use as offices, so the proposal would fill the prominent ground-floor banking hall that has stood empty since the branch shut.

It is worth being clear that this is a submitted planning application rather than a done deal: the scheme is still being assessed by the council, and no approval or opening date has been confirmed. If it goes ahead, though, it would be a welcome reuse of one of Gosforth's best-known old buildings, and another addition to the High Street's growing food-and-drink scene.