- The owners of 'Britain's wonkiest pub' have been ordered to rebuild it after a suspected arson attack.
- The local community celebrated the enforcement notice.
The owners of "Britain's wonkiest pub" have been ordered to rebuild it after it was demolished last year following a suspected arson attack.
ATE Farms Limited owns The Crooked House pub in the South West of England. The notice was also served to director George Taylor and his wife, Caryl Taylor, the company's former director.
The couple now has 30 days to appeal, and the notice must be completed within 3 years.
Leader of South Staffordshire Council, Roger Lees, said in a statement that "A huge amount of time and resources have been put into investigating the unauthorised demolition of the Crooked House.
"We have had great support from the local community, our MPs, and the Mayor of the West Midlands, and from the campaign group whose aim is to see the Crooked House back to its former glory, which is the key objective of the enforcement notice."
An historic pub from 18th Century, loved by locals
The fire, on August 5, 2023, came just a fortnight after the establishment was sold by Marston's Brewery to ATE Farms Limited.
Staffordshire Police said six people — five men and one woman — had been arrested in connection with the arson and that they were currently on conditional bail, per BBC News.
The building was knocked down after fire crews and police deemed the property unstable.
The Crooked House was built as a farmhouse in the mid-18th century, though over time, one side of the building sank due to subsidence from mining works that were carried out in the 1800s.
In 1830, it was converted into a pub called The Siden House (in local, Black Country dialect, "siden" means crooked). It was later renamed The Crooked House.
More than just a pub, The Crooked House had become a major tourist attraction hosting weddings and other events.
Thousands of locals mourned its loss, with the Save the Crooked House Facebook page amassing over 36,000 members.