The Crooked House ...
Known as Britain’s wonkiest pub, the Crooked House has fascinated tourists and locals alike since the 18th century. Constructed in 1765 in the Black Country village of Himley, near Dudley, England, it was originally used as a farmhouse on Oak Farm.

Following a mining subsidence in the 19th century, one side of the building subsequently measured approximately 4ft lower than the other, giving it a lean of about 15 degrees. The then owners used this as an opportunity to create quirky optical illusions, with pennies and marbles appearing to move uphill along the bar. Furniture and fixtures appeared to not hang plumb, including the grandfather clock and the chandelier. The landlord claimed that the novelty of the pub brought visitors from as far afield as China, Russia, Japan, the United States and Canada.

The distinctive pub had been owned by a large brewing company, but was put up for sale as part of a nationwide review claiming low foot-fall made it impossible for it to be commercially viable as a pub. It was sold on 27th July 2023 to a real-estate company with other interests in the area.

The pub was razed to the ground by a fire on 5 August 2023, much to the dismay of those who frequented it, and it was demolished two days later without authority from the local council. Hundreds of people visited the site to mourn the destruction of their favourite watering hole as it lay in its sadly "straitened" condition. Calls for it to be rebuilt "brick by brick" using as much original material as possible ignited a campaign to salvage the bricks, 25,000 of whicn were promptly put into safe storage under lock and key.

It soon emerged that the Crooked House had been put forward for Listed Status protection just days before it was "levelled" to the ground.

But the plot thickened ......

Local sleuths uncovered the alarming facts that the new owners of the Crooked House had been refused planning consent for its conversion into six rental apartments and that they owned another historic pub in the area with plans to transform it into holiday homes as well.

The Council recognised that although the historiic fabric of the Crooked House had been destroyed, the rebulding of this quirky historic pub would be a meaningful and worthwhile exercise given its local and historical importance ... an order was, therefore, isued for the Crooked House to be rebuilt ... brick by brick.

Staffordshire Police are now treating the blaze at the Crooked House as arson and have made six arrests in connection with the incident.