CAMRA’s Pub Heritage Group shares news and updates about pubs with historically significant interiors across the UK. For further news, see the Pub Heritage webpage here.
Three Star Heritage Pubs
Crown & Anchor, Llanidloes, Mid Wales
The Crown and Anchor (above) is a multi-room pub dating back to the 17th century and has been in the same family ownership for more than 100 years. It is known as Ruby’s after long-term landlady Ruby Holmes who ran the pub for 52 years until 2017. Following Ruby’s retirement, it had been leased but closed in October 2022. The Pub Heritage Group is pleased to report that the community buyout of this unspoilt town pub, last covered in the September bulletin, is making progress. The share offer was launched at the end of November 2024 and is due to close at the end of January 2025. The Crown & Anchor Tavern Community Benefit Society hopes to raise £250,000, with a minimum investment of £25. More information about the project can be found on the campaign group’s website here.
Tipperary, Temple, Greater London Central (above)
Following a successful planning application to redevelop the block which includes the pub, this Irish pub closed in early December 2024. The pub had only reopened in February after being closed for three years due to a major development nearby, when it was temporarily commandeered as the site offices. The Tipperary is to be retained however, but the Pub Heritage Group understands that this new development will take a number of years, and the pub is likely to remain closed for the duration of the works. More information about the planning permission is on the Building Design & Construction Magazine website here.
Springfield Hotel, Wigan, Greater Manchester (above)
The Springfield, an opulent brick-and-terracotta pub built in 1903, has reopened following a refurbishment by the new leaseholders, Bee Social. The work appears to be just a minor tidy up and has not affected the Victorian interior. The Pub Heritage Group covered the closure in the August bulletin, as a planning application to convert the upper floors to hotel use was submitted in the summer. This is still awaiting a decision from the council and, if successful, will retain the ground floor public house as part of the development.
Two Star Heritage Pubs
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Dewdrop, Peacehaven, East Sussex (above)
The Dewdrop Inn closed in early December. Originally built in 1924, the pub dates primarily from a 1960s refit and has remained generally unchanged since. The pub is not listed and is owned by Stonegate. The Pub Heritage Group would welcome any further updates.
One Star Heritage Pubs
Mitre, Stourbridge, West Midlands (above)
The Mitre, a fine example of 1930s “Brewers’ Tudor” has been listed grade II by Historic England following an application by CAMRA and the West Midlands Combined Authority. Despite the opening up of the ground floor, it retains sufficient internal features of interest from the period including detailed plasterwork cornicing, stained glass, carved timber panelling and bespoke fireplaces which are referred to in the listing entry. The current licensee, Michael Cartwright retired this month and the Mitre will be closed temporarily for a minor refurbishment, according to a report in the Express & Star, so it is reassuring that the listing is now in place.
Jenny Lind, Hastings, East Sussex (above)
This Georgian-style town pub was completely rebuilt after World War Two, following bomb damage in 1943. Some of the internal material from the 1930s was then reused in the rebuilding. It is now for sale through Just Property with an asking price of £950,000. It is a substantial property with six B&B rooms on the upper floors. The Jenny Lind, which is not listed, is a popular community music pub and there is enough concern for its future that a Let’s Save the Jenny Lind campaign has been launched. Find more information about the campaign on the Sussex World website here.
Lord Southampton, Kentish Town, Greater London North West (above)
The Pub Heritage Group last reported on the granting of a new licence for the Lord Southampton in January 2024, following its closure in 2022. It has now reopened following what looks like a sympathetic refurbishment of its inter-war interior. More information on the pub’s reopening can be found on the Ham & High website here.
Highland, Leeds, West Yorkshire
The Highland, a pub with an inter-war interior, closed in May 2023. It is now due to reopen in early 2025. The new licensees also run the Empire Café in Leeds, and the new venture will be food orientated. The pub is not listed, so further reports once it has opened would be welcomed by the Pub Heritage Group. Find more information about the pub on the Yorkshire Evening Post website here.
If you have any news for CAMRA’s Heritage Pubs team, send to: info@pubheritage.camra.org.uk. If you wish to receive the bulletins directly, sign up by sending an email to bulletin@pubheritage.camra.org.uk with the word “subscribe” as the subject or “unsubscribe” if you wish to stop receiving bulletins.
Photos by Michael Slaughter, Michael Croxford and Michael Schouten
