In a crooked manner

A recent news story was of the tragic destruction of the “Crooked House” pub. The building had apparently started subsiding in the nineteenth century, been stabilised with supporting walls and steel, and was a local landmark.

The property had been purchased for repurposing, then burned down, and the following day contractors arrived to knock the remaining walls into rubble. There has been a public outcry since, not least since it turns out the property owners had booked the demolition crew before the fire.

The Crooked House after the fire. Severely burned, but much of it still standing.

But historic buildings in Britain have a strange habit of burning down. Especially when they are in the way of development projects. Especially when they carry “listed building” (historic preservation) status, that prevents their demolition. Unfortunately, despite the Listed Building laws, this kind of incident is incentivized by councils and planning boards. After the building is (tragically, unexpectedly!) destroyed, the property owners come forward with redevelopment plans, which are then approved. (Rarely is the property owner actually caught fleeing the scene with matches and kerosene: so as long as they have plausible deniability, they’re just trying to get on with their business and who is to fault them?)

Even if they are found to have ripped out a historic building illegally, the usual remedy is some kind of fine. An unusual reversal took place a few years ago, when rather than a fine (which the developers might have anticipated), an illegal demolisher of a historic London pub was required to rebuild the property. Brick by brick.

This is unfortunately too rarely the result. Too often we see a too bad, so sad approach from local authorities. Especially if the destruction can't be definitively pinned on the developer (who completely coincidentally already had architectural plans for new construction once the old building was out of the way), the powers that be just go on with assessing the development plan as though the land were vacant.