Crooked House owners 'want to rebuild' Britain's wonkiest pub - in new location

The Crooked House in Himley was destroyed in a suspected arson attack before being demolished two days later

The owners of Britain's wonkiest pub, The Crooked House, are seeking to rebuild it - but in a new location, according to planning documents. The historic Himley pub, near Dudley, was demolished two days after being ravaged by a suspected arson attack last August.

In response to its 'unlawful demolition', South Staffordshire Council demanded owner ATE Farms returned the iconic pub to its pre-fire condition in February. The owners have contested the notice and a planning inspector will rule on the appeal in July.

Now, a document submitted on behalf of the owners has disclosed their plan to rebuild the pub on other land under their ownership, coupled with further developments intended to 'increase footfall'. The document said: "The appellant has not refused to rebuild the building and has actively engaged with the council regarding this.

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"Requiring a re-build in the same location, whilst reflective of popular opinion, will not change the fact that the building in that location is not viable as a public house. For this reason, the appellant has put forward a sustainable, and what it sees as a genuine and practical solution to the issue, to the council that it rebuild the building on other land that it owns, to operate as a public house, with other development to increase footfall and give the pub and the building a real chance of success as a community asset.

"The proposal locates a newly constructed Crooked House pub along with appropriate parking and landscaping further north off Crooked House Lane and as near to the highway junction with the Himley Road as would allow."

The document also shed light on why the owners claimed the former pub had to be entirely demolished, despite council officers authorising only three elements of the building's removal for safety purposes. It said unexpected issues arose after council officials left the site: "Removal of the upper sections of the building took with it the steel tie ins which rendered the remaining structure, in the contractors opinion, completely unsafe and at a high (and unacceptable risk) of collapse.

"The council officers had left the land and a quick decision had to be made. The situation on the land was such that, due to the amount of media attention and public attendance, a decision had to be taken quickly as to the immediate safety of the building."

"A decision was made with reference to the director of the appellant that in order to abate the risk, the mainstay of the remaining structure needed to be taken down. It was considered that there was a high risk of the building collapsing and causing serious injury or a fatality on the land given the entry on to the land by large numbers of people some of whom were conducting vigils and others removing bricks and other items as memorabilia/ for sale."

There were also plans to build an education centre in the area which would link to local history and would partly include retirement lodges set within the existing woodland, the document said.

It went on: "In this regard, the appellant is in the process of preparing a detailed pre-application to be put to the council (and neighbouring authorities)."

The demolition of the famous pub sparked a huge uprising by campaigners calling for it to be rebuilt 'brick-by-brick'. A Facebook page called Save the Crooked House (Let's Get it Rebuilt) has more than 37,000 members.

Staffordshire Police, which is treating the blaze at the Crooked House as arson, has made six arrests in connection with the incident.

The iconic building, which dates back to 1735, was changed from a farmhouse to a pub in 1830 and was famous for its wonky appearance. It became a well-known tourist attraction due to the mining subsidence which caused one side of the building to be approximately 4ft lower than the other.