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Pub Heritage Bulletin 274 Jan 2026

Release date: January 04, 2026

Three Star Heritage Pubs

North Yorkshire, CHRISTIE’S BRASSERIE – THE ZETLAND HOTEL, Middlesbrough. The Zetland Hotel closed in December and is up for sale with Magnum Properties with an asking price of £850,000. See: Magnum Properties .
Owners Philip and Joanne Christie put the pub on the market earlier in the summer reportedly to have a break and pursue new ventures - see: Teesside Live .
The Zetland was built around 1860 with the room of most interest being the spectacular tiled and mirrored dining lounge which was designed by local architect J.M. Bottomley and added to the rear of the pub in 1893. The Christies bought the Zetland in 2017 and their painstaking restoration was awarded the Historic England Award for Conservation at the CAMRA Pub Design Awards 2019. Let’s hope a sympathetic buyer comes forward soon.
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Aberdeen & Grampian, BLUE LAMP, Aberdeen. The Blue Lamp closed on 30th December with current licensee Lewis Brown stating the business was no longer viable due to rising costs. See: BBC . 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. It has a virtually intact interior from the 1960s, which is a rarity. The downstairs bar and upstairs lounge consist of floor to ceiling ply panelling, formica bar tops, leatherette padded fixed seating and a host of other typical 1960s features. The news is very concerning as the pub is not listed and we don’t yet know the intentions of the owners. Any further updates would be very welcome. Thanks to Paul Ainsworth & Nick Simmonds for this news.
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Tyne & Wear, STAGS HEAD, South Shields. The Stags Head continues to go from strength to strength under the management of licensees Julie and Stephen Sullivan who took it on three years ago. They have recently redecorated and cleaned up the interior and the exterior has also been spruced up and reportedly all now looks stunning. And if that doesn’t whet your appetite, the pub is now included in the Good Beer Guide for the first time in 10 years. See (p13): CAMRA Angle . The Stags Head dates from 1897 and has an unusual floorplan from that period - having one downstairs, and one upstairs bar 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. Thanks to Paul Ainsworth for this update.
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One Star Heritage Pubs

Gloucestershire, BERKELEY ARMS, Purton. Hinton Parish Council have reported that the Berkeley Arms is due to reopen imminently with a new tenant in place. This basic unspoilt canal side pub, which is owned by the Berkeley Castle Estate, was previously included on the National Inventory and closed in 2020. At the time CAMRA made an application for statutory listing, but tragically the bar and bar back were removed before Historic England could make their assessment. Currently it is included at One Star with the proviso that a reassessment is required. So, it will be interesting to see it when it does reopen. Thanks to Paul Ainsworth for this news.
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Derbyshire, THORN TREE INN, Matlock. 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. See: Savills . This small late 19th Century stone-built pub consists of two small bars which were refitted in 1965. It is currently open with a temporary manager in place. Chris Birds, chair of Matlock and Dales CAMRA, reports that the pub’s footfall has sadly decreased in recent years and it is a concern that the pub, which is not listed, may be subject to change of use when sold.
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East Sussex, KING’S ARMS, Eastbourne. In February we reported on the planning application that had been submitted to convert this grand late Victorian pub into flats, and the subsequent fire. Jamie Hooper reports the disappointing news that the planning application has been approved. See: Argus .
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Other Items of Interest
The Eagle, Skerne, East Yorkshire.
Historic England has invited CAMRA’s comments on an application to de-list this former pub. Widely famed as a rural timewarp, the Eagle was one of the UK's last surviving ‘bar-less’ traditional pubs and a cast-iron entry on our original National Inventory. When it closed in 2003, CAMRA was instrumental in seeking its emergency listing. This was duly secured in 2005 and joyously celebrated as representing a landmark shift in the national listing guidelines for pubs (with a greater tolerance of architectural unpretentiousness for such rare cases) Some of that initial joy turned sour six years later, however, when an abysmally-lax local planning authority voted to allow 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 throughout that whole period stands as CAMRA’s most drawn-out, sustained, and ultimately thwarted, pub heritage campaign ever. For Geoff Brandwood’s thoughts on the matter at the time see the September 2011 bulletin: Bulletin 104 .
Geoff’s article referred to the major part played by Alan Canvess in the campaign for the Eagle, and it is with great sadness that we report Alan’s very recent passing (on 30th December.) The February Bulletin will feature a written tribute to him.

Local Inventories.
Dave Pickersgill sends a reminder to all about the ongoing Local Inventory project:
‘Local Inventories are the lowest tier in our 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 (NI) to be appropriate. However, they do retain parts of their traditional planform and/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: they may have original brickwork, entrance doors, plasterwork, stained windows and/or tiling.
Hence, the development of Local Inventories as a means of both recording information and raising awareness. The expectation is that LIs will be driven by CAMRA Branches, with PHG maintaining arms-length oversight and setting the inclusion criteria.’
To get involved and for more information about the Local Inventories, go to: Local Inventories . or contact Dave at: pubheritage@sheffield.camra.org.uk .

Sheffield Beer Week 2026
Dave has also organised a guided walk and talk on the Little Chicago area of Sheffield for Sheffield Beer Week 2026:
Little Chicago Heritage Guided Walk. 4pm Friday 13th March. A Guided tour based on the local pub/history booklet, starting at West Bar. Advance booking required online: Eventbrite .
Little Chicago Heritage Talk. 7.45pm Friday 13th March. Illustrated talk based on the local pub/history book at the University Arms. Advance booking required online: Eventbrite .

Heritage Pubs – How many have you visited?
It’s always very good to hear from readers of the bulletin. So, we are reviving an old tradition and want to hear how many National Inventory pubs you have managed to visit – Three, Two or One Star. Drop us a line to let us know at info@pubheritage.camra.org.uk . And tell us your favourite too, if that is possible!
A full list of all inventory pubs is available here: List of National Inventory Pubs . (Export CSV to the right to download excel spreadsheet)

To find out more about The National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors and the work of the Pub Heritage Group please visit the website: Historic Pub Interiors . Where you can find a full explanation of our Selection Criteria and grading system, and a full listing of all the pubs included on the inventory with their grades.

If you have any news on our Heritage Pubs please send updates to: info@pubheritage.camra.org.uk .

Please feel free to forward this bulletin to your friends who are also interested in visiting pubs like these - if they wish to receive future bulletins direct all they have to do is 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.

Tom Chapman

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