The John Bull Chop House, on Coopers Row in Wigan, was hit by a blaze in the early hours of Tuesday morning (4 August).
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Greater Manchester Police said a 44 year old man arrested on suspicion of arson, burglary and possession of class A drugs had since been released on bail pending further enquiries. No injuries were reported.
In a post on Facebook, the pub said: “We’re gutted to let you all know that the John Bull Chop House suffered a fire early this morning. As you can imagine, we’re totally lost for words.
“We want to thank all of our loyal customers and the people of Wigan for your support. We will recover from this, and we’ll be back pouring your favourite ales before we know it.”
Community support
A GoFundMe page set up to support the pub had raised more than £12,000 from more than 500 donations at the time of writing.
The fundraiser, titled Save the John Bull Chop House, described the pub as “so much more than a pub”, calling it “a way of life”, “a family” and “a beacon” of Wigan.
The pub later thanked customers, neighbours, musicians, emergency services and supporters for the response, stating on Facebook that the venue “belongs to all of us”.
It added: “We’re battered, broken, knackered and absolutely devastated. Long live the John Bull.”
Restoration plans
The John Bull Chop House is a Grade II listed building and is listed by CAMRA as a 300 plus year old pub, run by the same family for more than 40 years.
Thwaites, which owns the building, said fire services were called to the site in the early hours and the fire had been contained.
A spokesperson said: “We’re working closely with the fire and police services to assist with the ongoing investigation, as well as with Pete and Vicky, our tenants at the pub, to offer our full support.
“Whilst it’s very early days, The John Bull Chop House is a much loved pub in the local community and it’s very much our intention to restore the pub back to its former glory.”
This is the latest in a series of pub related fires in the UK this year, including a blaze at a top gastropub in South Wales in June, a fire at a derelict former pub in Essex in May and an arson investigation following a fire at a derelict pub in Northampton in April.
