English Heritage and Merton Council join calls for historic cricket pub to be rebuilt – just like the Crooked House in the Midlands. While in Croydon, there’s a second fire in nine months at another disused pub
Another day, another fire in an abandoned pub building.
Repeat performance: the fire at the Windmill pub on St James Road yesterday
While there seems little chance of any action being taken in Croydon, after the Windmill on St James’ Road was in flames yesterday for a second time in less than nine months, in Mitcham, a strong community group is beginning a campaign to ensure that the owners of the Grade II-listed Burn Bullock repair and rebuild the historic pub which was near-destroyed in Friday’s blaze.
No one was hurt in yesterday’s fire in Croydon, where five workmen evacuated the site when a fire broke out on the ground floor. That had already been badly damaged in a fire last August, when the Windmill and the Drum and Monkey, another derelict pub nearby, both caught light, apparently spontaneously…
Although the cause of both pub fires last year was regarded by the emergency services as “suspicious”, an investigation was abandoned for lack of any evidence of an arsonist.
Yesterday, the Fire Brigade received its call out for the fire at the Windmill at 1.44pm and had the situation under control by 2.38pm. Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters from Croydon and Norbury fire stations were involved.
“The cause of the fire is under investigation,” the LFB said.
Meanwhile, in Mitcham, the volunteers behind the Mitcham Green Conservation Area are looking at ways to retrieve something from the ashes of the Burn Bullock.
The pub, parts of which date back to the 1500s, has been disused for 10 years, and was believed to be occupied by squatters when it went up in flames on Friday night. Again, no one was hurt but the circumstances behind the cause of the fire are subject to investigation.
Time for action: conservation experts have been on site this week seeing what can be saved in the fire-damaged Burn Bullock
The building’s owners have been thwarted repeatedly in their efforts to obtain planning permission for the Burn Bullock site.
The Mitcham Cricket Green heritage group said in a statement issued last night, “We are campaigning for the shocking fire at the Burn Bullock to mark a turning point in the story of this historic and desperately neglected site.”
Conservation architects are examining the damage.
Historic England has offered support and assistance.
Mitcham Cricket Green heritage group say: “We have asked Merton Council to issue the [building’s] owners with a ‘repairs notice’ to put right the damage and follow this up with compulsory purchase proceedings when the work isn’t done.”
This amounts to a similar approach to that adopted last year over the destruction of the Crooked House pub in the Midlands.
The Mitcham community group said: “The long-term future needs Mitcham cricket pavilion – which is in the same ownership as the Burn Bullock – to be put into community hands.
“Merton Council’s chief executive has made a public statement confirming ‘we are determined to explore all options available to us to help preserve the building’.”
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No fault liability insurance should be mandatory on all empty buildings. Too many building mysteriously catch fire and are then demolished. These decisions should be made by the community if a building is destroyed by fire before re-development or demolition plans are approved. It would make owners/insurers responsible for keeping a building safe until planning decisions are made.