Wiltshire site may never reopen as a pub following fire
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service was called to The Crown Inn pub in Alvediston, near Salisbury, at 5.14pm on Wednesday 10 May following reports of a thatch fire.
Licensee Steven Nottage, who has privately rented the Grade II listed pub and lived on site with his wife for the past seven years, said while he has “no idea” what the next steps are, the Crown is unlikely to open as a pub again.
He said: “It’s had a massive impact on us, we have got to start again; we need to find accommodation and we’ve lost our income as well.
Up and running
“To be quite honest I don’t think the pub will ever be up and running again.
“We only had three years of our lease left and indications are it is going to take three years to rebuild it if they rebuild it. My personal view is it won’t ever be a pub again.”
While the cause of the fire is still unknown, a statement from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service said the blaze originated in the chimney area and spread to the roof, “destroying” virtually the whole top half of the building, according to the licensee.
In addition to the licensees living accommodation, the pub’s B&B accommodation, which was the main source of income according to Nottage, had also been decimated by the inferno.
Steady progress
No injuries were reported following the fire, which saw 12 fire crews made up of approximately 60 firefighters and several specialist vehicles work through the night to contain the flames.
A statement from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service said: “Crews stripped the thatch, put fire breaks in place and used breathing apparatus, hose reels and main jets to extinguish the fire. Firefighters remained on the scene overnight.
“Steady progress was made throughout the day on Thursday 11May with multiple fire appliances on scene and crews actively firefighting and stripping the thatch.
“The stop message came through that evening and a reinspection was carried out the following morning to check for remaining hotspots.”
