Villagers, Blackheath (Volunteer)

The 'pub on the hill' is in fine walking country, a 30 minute stroll from Chilworth Station. The front entrance leads into a small public bar area with flagstone floor and open fire, where dogs are welcome. This leads in turn through to a spacious dining area, in two parts with an L-shaped bar. Sadly the pub closed in April 2011, however a village enterprise known as the Blackheath Village Pub Company has been established with the express purpose of protecting and retaining the village pub. In 2013 they secured Asset of Community Value (ACV) status for the pub, the first in the area In October 2016 the pub was sold to a residential developer and the ACV revoked, though a reapplication was immediately made on the grounds that the pub remains viable and has strong local support. This was approved in March 2017, so the pub is listed as an ACV again. In September 2017 The Blackheath Village Pub Company secured planning permission to develop the site for both a pub and residential use and attempted to purchase the pub.

However in September 2018 the site was purchased by Lux Homes Ltd, who whilst clearly interested in developing the site for residential use are nevertheless bound by the planning conditions requiring retention of a pub. A planning application to remove this condition was refused in 2020 but a further application in 2024 was approved by the local council, though the Community are now submitting the issue for a judicial review.