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 Group webpage here.
Three Star heritage pubs
Christie’s Brasserie – the Zetland, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire
The Zetland (above) closed in December and is up for sale at Magnum Properties with an asking price of £850,000. Built around 1860, the pub has a spectacular tiled-and-mirrored dining lounge which was designed by local architect JM Bottomley and was added to the rear of the pub in 1893. Previous owners Philip and Joanne Christie bought the Zetland in 2017 and their painstaking restoration of the pub won the Historic England Conservation category of CAMRA’s Pub Design Awards in 2019. Find out more about the sale on Magnum Properties here.
Blue Lamp, Aberdeen, Aberdeen and Grampian (above)
The Blue Lamp closed on 30 December with licensee Lewis Brown stating the business was no longer viable due to rising costs. The pub had been run by the Brown family since it opened in 1949 and is a key part of the local music scene hosting the Aberdeen Jazz Festival. The virtually intact interior dates from the 1960s with the downstairs bar and upstairs lounge showcasing floor-to-ceiling ply panelling, Formica bar tops, leatherette padded fixed seating and more features typical of the period. The Blue Lamp is not listed and the Pub Heritage Group would welcome further updates. Read more about the closure on BBC News here.
Stags Head, South Shields, Tyne and Wear (above)
The Stags Head has recently been redecorated to a high standard and has been included in the Good Beer Guide for the first time in 10 years. Dating back to 1897, the pub has an unusual floorplan for that period, having both a bar downstairs and one upstairs, due to the narrow footprint of the building. Both bars have their original Victorian bar counters and bar backs, and the ground-floor public bar has an unusual four span arch over the servery. It was Grade II listed in 2010 following an application by CAMRA. Read more in Sunderland and South Tyneside branch’s magazine, CAMRA Angle.
One Star heritage pubs
Berkeley Arms, Purton, Gloucestershire (above)
Hinton Parish Council has reported that the Berkeley Arms is due to reopen soon with a new tenant. This basic, unspoilt canalside pub, which is owned by the Berkeley Castle Estate, was previously included on the National Inventory but closed in 2020. At the time, CAMRA made an application for the pub to receive statutory listing, but the bar and bar back were removed before Historic England could make its assessment. Currently it is included on the inventory at One Star status with the understanding that a reassessment is required.
Torn Tree Inn, Matlock, Derbyshire (above)
The freehold of the Thorn Tree Inn, which is owned by Greene King, is on the market through Savills with an asking price of £350,000. It is still open with a temporary manager in place. This small, late 19th-century, stone-built pub consists of two small bars which were refitted in 1965. The Thorn Tree Inn is not currently listed, and the Pub Heritage Group is concerned that a new owner may try to change its use when sold. More information about the pub’s sale is on Savills’ website.
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King’s Arms, Eastbourne, East Sussex (above)
The planning application to convert this grand late-Victorian pub into flats and the subsequent fire were reported in the February 2025 bulletin. Disappointingly, the planning application has been approved. Find more information about the application on The Argus website.
Other news
Eagle, Skerne, East Yorkshire
Historic England has invited CAMRA’s comments on an application to delist this former pub. Widely famed as a rural time warp, the Eagle was one of the UK's last surviving, bar-less, traditional pubs. When it closed in 2003 CAMRA was instrumental in seeking its emergency listing which was secured in 2005, representing a landmark shift in the national listing guidelines for pubs with a greater tolerance of architectural unpretentiousness for such rare cases. Six years later, however, the local planning authority allowed the Eagle’s conversion to a dwelling, making a lost cause of the whole rationale for its listing, which had clearly been as a pub. The fight to save the Eagle stands as CAMRA’s most drawn-out, sustained, and ultimately thwarted, pub heritage campaign. Read the Pub Heritage Group February 2011 bulletin here.
The 2011 bulletin referred to the major part played by Alan Canvess in the campaign for the Eagle. It is with great sadness that the Pub Heritage Group must announce Alan’s death on 30 December. The February bulletin will feature a tribute to him.
Local Inventories
A reminder about the ongoing Local Inventory project. Local Inventories are the lowest tier in the Campaign’s structured statement of national pub preservation priorities. There are many pub interiors where the level of change has been too great for the National Inventory to be appropriate, but they retain parts of their traditional floor plan or some historic features. They should be recorded and catalogued.
In addition, many pubs retain much of their original exterior despite their interior having had substantial change, for example, original brickwork, entrance doors, plasterwork, stained windows and tiling.
The development of Local Inventories is a means of both recording information and raising awareness. The expectation is that Local Inventories will be driven by CAMRA branches, with the Pub Heritage Group maintaining arms-length oversight and setting the inclusion criteria.
To get involved and for more information about the Local Inventories, contact Dave Pickersgill at pubheritage@sheffield.camra.org.uk
Sheffield Beer Week 2026
Dave Pickersgill has organised a guided walk and a talk on the Little Chicago area of Sheffield for Sheffield Beer Week 2026.
The Little Chicago Heritage Guided Walk is at 4pm Friday 13 March starting at West Bar. Advance booking is required here.
An illustrated talk is at 7.45pm Friday 13 March at the University Arms. Advance booking is also required and can be made here.
Heritage pubs – how many have you visited?
The Pub Heritage Group wants to hear how many National Inventory pubs you have managed to visit. Email the team at info@pubheritage.camra.org.uk and reveal your favourite too! A list of all inventory pubs is available here. Select “Export CSV” on the right to download the list as an Excel spreadsheet.
If you have any news on heritage pubs, send to: info@pubheritage.camra.org.uk
Feel free to forward this bulletin to anyone interested in visiting pubs like these. 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 and Michael Schouten
