On 5 August 2023, a fire destroyed much of the interior of the Crooked House pub in Himley, Staffordshire, with the remaining structure of the building demolished without planning permission less than 48 hours later.
The pub was one of 65 sites sold by Marston’s in January 2023 and its sale completed two weeks before the blaze. Six people were arrested in connection with the fire.
Ahead of the two-year anniversary of the inferno, Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) pub and club campaigns director Gary Timmins told The Morning Advertiser (The MA) it was “frustrating” justice had not yet been delivered for the “iconic” pub.
“The Crooked House needs to be rebuilt brick by brick, but we are still waiting on the result of an insulting much-delayed appeal from the owners.
“The delays in delivering justice for the Crooked House show action is desperately needed from the UK Government to strengthen planning laws and enforcement, so our much-loved locals are properly protected from unwanted and unlawful demolitions or conversions”, he continued.
Last year, South Staffordshire Council ordered the pub to be rebuilt to its original plans within three years and served an enforcement notice for the unlawful demolition of the building, labelling it a breach of planning control.
Big frustration
However, the owners, ATE Farms Limited, lodged an appeal and requested to rebuild the pub in a new location, describing the current site as “not viable” for a pub.
In addition, the owners told the council they were “not in any way responsible” for the fire or ensuing destruction. A criminal case is also still ongoing following the arrests, which has further delayed the appeal.
Following the blaze, the community set up the ‘Save the Crooked House Campaign’, which also shared its dissatisfaction with the lack of communication and development regarding the appeal.
Campaigner and Sedgley councillor Ian Sandall told The MA: “I don’t understand it. It is very frustrating because the three-year rebuild doesn’t actually start until the appeal has been heard and it rules in our favour.
“We’ve got 37,000 followers on Facebook and each one of them is very eager to get this pub rebuilt. It is a big frustration among the community and, I’ve got to say, worldwide because the followers are from all corners of the world.
“We know the owners will try and do what they need to do to delay the appeal in the hope that it all gets forgotten and we’re not intent on doing that.”
Though with the Crooked House known as Britain’s ‘wonkiest pub’, Sandall added the rebuild would not be without its challenges: “It has been discussed and cogitated with architects, and they can build a floating raft and they can sink it.
Working together
“We used a digital drone and mapped the building; every single brick can be recreated to the nearest millimetre.
“In itself it sounds quite easy, but because it’s got to be built to modern building standards, the engineering is a bit more difficult than it sounds. But it is still very much achievable.”
Echoing Timmins, Sandall added the introduction of more stringent protection for pubs like the Crooked House was vital: “This is not an isolated case. The number of pubs that are closing week on week, it’s horrendous.
“The laws around [unlawful demolition] also don’t provide much coverage, they are not stringent enough.”
After the destruction of the historic pub, which dated back to the 18th century, former MP for Dudley South, Marco Longhi, introduced the Heritage Pubs Bill to provide better protection for community pubs.
MP for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire, Mike Wood, continued to champion the bill, which was due to have its second reading in Parliament last month. However, the reading was postponed and a new date has not yet been set.
Sandall concluded: “We as a community and campaign group are very focused on getting the Crooked House rebuilt. But we’re also focusing on the Heritage Pubs Bill, we’ve been working very close together.”
