If an investigation finds foul play then planning permission must never be granted for anything other than a public house.

The people who did this should never be allowed to benefit from this vandalism

Developers are evil and greedy. Six historic ancient trees were killed by stripping overnight by developers who bought local land in Brighton. And the local well loved pub was bought to convert into a holiday home for the developers son.

this is so blatent criminal arson and i fully expect everyone involved to get away with it completely as per usual

What’s happened here is plain and simply criminal, no thought for historic value or the local community just greed, the perpetrators should be jailed for a minimum of 5 years (i.e. behind bars for 5 years) not half a sentence. This might discourage others from wilfully carrying out other atrocities.

People responsible will serve the same gaol time as our crooked MPs...zero.

As a local from the area I'm shocked and grief stricken by the lost of the Crooked House. The building is irreplaceable, it was such a fun and unusual place to visit; especially for kids. People in the comments who've never visited don't understand what a special place this was. The world is a lot poorer when unique places are just destroyed like this for greed.

I remember my father taking me there as a child and I took my kids years later. Without doubt it was the most unique pub in the world and to think the building dated back to 1650 is desperately sad. The only thing against it was it's location, set in the middle of beautiful countryside you couldn't just go and have a few pints. Perfect option would have been an eatery. Love someone to set up a go fund me page for a private prosecution because the person responsible won't get the appropriate punishment.

Crooked developers paying criminals to burn things down to get their own way I’d make sure Nothing can ever be built on that land except another crooked pub

Something Crooked is going on here...

What I can not understand that such a quirky iconic pub and tourist attraction was let to go by a top Brewery who ran it, it is sacrilege and now something of historic value has gone. but they say they can not rebuild it, surely the Black coutry Museum the takes old historic buildings down regularly and rebuilds them at the Black Country living museum could have a try.

I hope that the police and fire service do find the cause of this fire as the public are not stupid and there is definitely a rabbit off here and if an fowl play has been a part of this which I guess like many there has been I hope they throw the book at whoever has caused this and is made to rebuild this iconic pub to the closest it can be.

Whoever started the fire knew that even if the insurance company didn't pay out, they would still make a massive profit from new builds on the land. I heard the company next door bought it, and they had differences over access rights with the pub before.

The council will reward the culprits with a juicy profitable allowed huge building plan and use lack of housing as an excuse.

A listed building should be exempt from future planning permission. This would deter would-be developers from purchasing them in the first place.

They should be made to rebuild it brick by brick no matter how long and how much money it takes.

Serious breaches of Fire, planning, and HSE (Demolition) Regulations, all of which carry a potential custodial sentence. Now who's going to jail ??? - Answer NO ONE - because the council doesn't have the nerve.

It's not only pubs - when developers see a 'vision'? Huge sweeping historical trees that had become an large enchanted retreat for squirrels and children alike (albeit a dark avenue it was never unsafe) were ALL taken down in our Old Town area. We will never see the like of which again as they lined the approach to what was once a privately owned estate whose residential home was occupied during the war by the USA and subsequently destroyed and is now a nature park. All in the name of progress - apparently daylight now filters into the Doctor's surgery which abuts the avenue (demolishing a 'darkened' care home) and whispy apologies for twigs (sorry trees) remain in their stead - so bland and boring and without character.

Rotherham borough council let a Row of 300 yo cottages be demolished... the owner got permission to build houses on part of the land, but he had to refurbish the cottages. Instead he left windows & doors open, allowing fly tipping cos he removed fencing, vandals got in, they set fires, the building got damaged by weather, it was now going down hill fast... he asked if he could demolish it cos it was too bad to save & the council let him! The land is still just a pile of bricks & rubble. Again in Rotherham an old pub was sold to a man wanting to build a store, he was told he could convert pub inside, but building must remain the same out with some repairs. He demolished the pub & claimed he didn’t understand the planning instructions. The site is still rubble years later & nothing happened to punish him & his BS. Rotherham council also tore down a hospital they allowed to rot to point they “had to tear it down” most of the town had been born in that hospital until the new one was built. It’s now student accommodation for university of Sheffield. I’m sick of our heritage being destroyed by corrupt councils and developers... there needs to be a national body who stops developers tear down historic buildings by arson & neglect. Fast food chain many years ago were refused planning permission to remove an old cinema in Birmingham to build a restaurant. Cinema burns down, fast food restaurant is built. The crooked house is just the current victim, there will be others... unless someone steps in to protect heritage buildings & lands from the corruption. Seriously, get your journalists to earn their money, get them looking into how many times corruption destroys our historic & heritage locations

I know of 5 local historical pubs in my area that’s burned down been demolished and turned into houses, buildings developers have been doing it for years. Soon as seen this in the news I said it will be demolished quick, land will be cleared for new houses

I was born in a pub. Grew up in them. I live in a converted pub now. I'm 63 years old. What a shame this industry is disappearing. Good bye, but never forgotten!

It could be rebuilt as it was. It would be costly but the perpetrators must pay. Fire and demolition has happened a lot in the village where I grew up

It is funny how so many of these historic pubs suffer fires just after developers take over.

I must add, cut the excuses. The truth is, the council just doesn’t want to spend the money on quality engineers to repair and retrofit the structure to replicate the original construction.

We've got loads of builders who build exactly like this all up n down the UK pal. However, a 5mm lime mortar joint is beyond them 🤣👍

The council should never allow anything to be built on the land now because of what the owner has done. That way it'll be getting back at the owner and they'll have wasted whatever money they spent on buying it

Was disgusting what happened to this beautiful and quirky and very old building. I hope whoever did it gets jailed and are not allowed to get land anywhere in the country ever again. Am fuming that this can happen. Something definitely needs to be done. Where I live, just 5 mins away, a parsonage was demolished and houses built on the site. Historical medieval importance. How that happened I’ve no idea, also was the oldest building in the village, next to the Norman church.

The developers should be locked up for a very long time for their total disregard of British culture! 😡

They done exactly the same at a pub near me. A listed building bought by developers and guess what they ACCIDENTALLY knocked down supporting beams. It’s a pop in Tesco now. Developers should never be allowed to buy listed buildings

Easy to replicate a crooked house. Just get the council to build it!

Trust me, with the new builds that I’ve seen there’s plenty of builders that will be able to replicate the crooked house. Some more over qualified than others. 😂

The locals have nicked the bricks for a start 😂 momentos

We have plenty of developers in the uk that could build a wonky building , they have been doing it for years !

So the police are investigating the new owners when it conveniently burnt down and got demolished.

I beg to differ. Its the cost of replicating the building this should fall on the culprits.

Ah, the no change of use rule would explain why dozens of pubs in my area remain empty years after ceasing business. I imagine there'll be a lot of fires in ex-pubs after this.

Make the developer put it back up brick by brick.

It will eventually become a block of flats unfortunately. If I had my way, I would make the owners replicate the pub as best as they can. No other building should be permitted there.

Happens in Glasgow all the time.

Just get my brother in law to do the brickwork, he’ll put it back wonky for you!!…

It should be rebuilt regardless. Make it modern, bigger, put a plaque up and make it a protected site.

They build them in theme parks in Florida so why can’t it be rebuilt.

Well some ones responsible for it,The whole Pub is mostly made out of solid concrete,Witch is not flammable,solid concrete building dont have fires spreading all over the building,A fire breaks out in a room,The fire wont hardly travel far,Be a room burnt,Thats it,Some ones gone in there and dossed it with petrol and dropped a match,Then quickly cleared of,That how it seems like how its been touched up in high blaze of fire,Im not stupud,Ive worked on enough building sites over the years,Know what buildings are what,Whats flammable and whats not flammable,How else has the fire spreaded all over the building ????

This Pub was Dudley’s answer to the leaning tower of Pisa.

The collonade sea front restaurant in Southend was destroyed by arson for greed, too. As was the west pier in Brighton.

Someone who’s an Architect needs to contact them so they can give the effect of a crooked house that’s not a crooked house..

Don't give up. It COULD get rebuilt. Check out Carlton Tavern in Maida Vale London. Illegally demolished in 2015 reopened exactly rebuilt 2021

The public response and nationwide coverage of the event will undoubtably cast a negative light on the character and future plans of the current owner and associates, who may well find it difficult to shake off the stigma of suspicion, or enter into more lucrative business agreements in the future, where a level of trust, truthfulness, or a moral compass may be expected by others, even if they are completely innocent of any wrongdoing in this instance…

Won't be able to find a builder who could build anything this wonky, come to my site we build houses like that all day 😂

Another unique piece of British Cultural History just whisked away ….

Sounds like someone set it on fire and sort to get rid of the evidence ASAP

Not again has the media no other stories other than this i think i speak for most of the UK ..Sad it happened but for god sake it was a pub. Fed up of hearing about it ... What sad lives you lead to contantly going on about this ridiculous story day in day out ..Bigger things happening in the world ..

You can easily rebuild it, build it on an air bag and let it down slowly simulation subsidence

Here is a list of some of the pubs that have burnt down in recent history (earliest is 2006, I think, but most are much more recent). They are all within 20 miles radius of The Crooked House. Some may be genuine accidents and not all were missed by the locals, being derelict . I'm not implying anything, other than this seems kind of a common occurrence. Does anyone else know of any more? (In the local area, list all those in the UK and there would be thousands...) The Tayleur Arms in Longdon upon Tern, near Wellington Swan pub at Waters Upton (Now houses) The Vine, Lichfield Road, Aston (Arson) The Ravenscroft, Small Heath (Plans for care home) The Bagot Arms, Erdington (now a block of flats) Pudding and Pint, Oscott (now houses) The Farcroft, Handsworth (Fire damaged and derelict) The Kingstanding pub,Kingstanding. (Soon to be an ALDI) The Merrivale, Oldbury.(Badly fire damaged and now derelict) The Queens Head, Smethwick (Now Houses). Ring o' Bells, Yardley (Now houses) The Crown and Cushion, Yardley (Now 100 apartment development) The Harlscott, Shrewsbury (Arson) The Countess's Arms, Western Heath (Arson) The Bromford, Bromford Road (Now a care home) The Anchor Inn, Brownhills (Arson. To be replaced by care home)

Thank God you have so many pictures - those will help the "Crooked House" live forever. I supposed it would have fallen down in years to come - it must have been inherently unstable.

I don't believe that they cannot replicate it. Will take money which I am sure the current owners/destroyers of the building have plenty of.

Was there a preservation order on this building? 🤔

It needs to be said that these so-called developers, are without question, part of the community that have origins in a group that is known for illegal caravan parking. Do not expect justice or much police action in this case.

Yes Just here, i’ll have my interview conveniently outside the Royal Oak pub…

😢😢so saddened by it as now something so special has gone. I hope who ever is behind this will get their karm

The council should refuse any planning permission to build on the site NR.

So i'm hearing that it was bought by the nearby landfill site, which is registered to the same address as the Lutterworth digger hire company, so it was all planned out, you don't get a digger on site from 50 miles away in less than 24hrs, and it was probably used to block the access road too................ but they won't be punished because the owners are linked to a certain community of mobile tarmac retailers.

Why was it demolished straight away and who by. Were they destroying evidence?

Total bs anything can be rebuilt, it's just a matter of how much it'll cost , and by the way the council get a back hander aka a section 106 agreement which is as good as cash in their hands , so its in their intest to grant planning permission ☝️

The brewery should have sold the pub on the understanding it was to be kept as a pub or required legal protection before selling it. £675,000 was wat too cheap.

Let me guess. The new owners have a name like ackmed and is involved in property development.

Buy it, burn it, develop it…. Ahh yes that old chestnut!

Your country is collapsing but a bunch of drunks seem to think this one pub being lost is a tragedy.

Insurance job or maybe look at development plans for the area.

Law enforcemeht should start a go-fund-me project with all funds going to find and prosecute those responsible - and make them pay for builders to reconstruct, to the best of their ability - there should be plenty of photographs...

should be easy to replicate considering some of the brick work i have snagged on todays new builds

"We'll never be able to replicate Crooked House again" - CAMRA chairman If the pub ends up getting rebuilt, I don't think the CAMRA chairman should be employed to do it.

we have to stop these fires walking to buildings and setting them alight making bigger fires.

Id never heard of this pub before and this story has angered me a lol

Someone on the council would have taken a big payment.

That’s the idea though, isn’t it? 10 times out of 10 arson+ developers = land clearance for huge profit, or apartment developments for overinflated prices.

Fire eh? Suspicious

they can rebuild it quite similar if they spend a hell of a lot of money slowly piecing it together ...so lets get building ..send the bill to the new owners.

😢😢

Conclusion is simple it was an insurance job. Heads need to roll for this.

This was a fix

I know a few dodgy builders who could definitely rebuild this crooked house!

Developers do this regularly its so blatant.

I'd let it go now a reconstruction will never be the same. a mysterious fire? no government protection would have helped there.

Of course you could if you put thought to the planning

if I was the new onwer,I would been rather Pi***d of by now,Knowing spent all that money on a Pub,Then it got burnt down,Eather way,Be a lot of work to be done,Site be cleared up,Can also recycle most of them bricks,Then start from scratch,Putting some of the history back in place,Still wont be the same history as well,Recycle bricks would also be saving of some costs of building supplys

The digger hire company confirmed they hired out the digger that bulldozed the building a couple of days BEFORE it caught fire. The owner of the company that bought the pub's partner has a record of buying derelict buildings and land to convert them to housing for profit. Yet we 'should not be asking questions'.......

the germans rebuilt a lot of their cities after ww2 and ypres was rebuilt after ww1 all in the original style so im sure rebuilding this pub wont be an issue if it actually gets done

It’s just typical of this country pulling down anything that’s unique....just hate it!

It's just bricks and mortar no doubt expensive home's will be built in it's place it's probably the people who want to build home's that had it burned down

It can be rebuilt quite easily.

In my opinion this was arson for gain and willful destruction, unfortunately it's one of those crimes where it's easier for the criminals to pay a negligible fine than go through all the ins and outs of the legal system. The law should be changed to make this tactic extremely prohibitive, like fined ten times the property value that was destroyed, forfiture of the property to the government or pay to turn the land into a green patch and forbid development for 50-100 years.

Why not convert it into a wildlife shelter, with bat and bird boxes? Put some seating around the place, and let it be a stop for dogwalkers?

AFAIK it's not illegal to burn your own property, so if the fire was started by the owners, most likely, the police are wrong. it's not arson.

Rebuild this makes nonsense of listed buildings if you can put a man on the moon you can rebuild this pub

Be interesting to see if any developers buy the land....oldest trick in the book.

Lock them up!

You can't replicate, so just replace with expensive flats!

That would be prejudice The owner could of been very Unfortunate with the fire people are Fly tipping because of council Charges The demolition I'm sure was for every ones safety You know what adults are like Yapping children listen wall falls on kids adults yap more A cruck I'd pub means nothing to Any one it's like an old box in a garage and one cleans garage where Is that box I dumped if why it was an obsticle past 30yrs I wanted that box what for it was rotten when i lifted it the bottom fell Out Love these people winging over A pub they do not own I proposed To my wife there Was it that spectacular You were calling divorce last week We had our child's birthday party There the child wanted a McDonald's you wanted to get Drunk We had our wedding reception There that was because you were Cheap and you wanted every one to feel drunk even when sober Let the owner build what he needs None of you tight gobbing people Would of bought the pub so don't Decide your seating hatred Because non of you are at a loss.

They should be made to exhaust all their resources trying though.