Brewery halts plan to run town's oldest pub

The Old Black Lion had been due to open earlier this year

A brewery has pulled out of running a town's oldest pub, where work is almost complete on a £3.5m restoration of the building led by a conservation trust.

The Grade II-listed Old Black Lion on Marefair in Northampton town centre dates back to the 16th Century, but has not welcomed patrons since 2018.

West Northamptonshire Council and the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT), which looks after St Peter's Church next door, started work on its revival in early 2023.

Northampton-based Phipps said it "concluded it no longer represented an opportunity" the brewery should take up. The CCT said it would work with the council to find a new operator.

In a statement to the BBC, Phipps said the original plans would have seen the pub "surrounded by a redeveloped Castle Ward alive with houses, flats and businesses once more".

But it added: "Down the years, there were many changes to the shape of the project, while sadly the derelict sites around the pub didn't change at all.

"In time, if all the development plans come together, we are sure the Old Black Lion and St Peter's [Church] will become a wonderful asset for the town, and we wish any future operator all the best in building back the business."

Earlier this year, an agreement was reached by the council to redevelop the area around the train station and Marefair, where the pub is located, but it was later delayed.

CCT chief executive, Greg Pickup, said: "Although Phipps Brewery will no longer be the pub operator, we hope to be able to work with them again in the future, as an important part of the town's brewing heritage."

The 12th-Century St Peter's Church is next to the pub

About £2m of funding for the restoration has come from the National Heritage Lottery Fund, with money also granted by HM Treasury's Towns Fund, West Northamptonshire Council, the Architectural Heritage Fund and West Northamptonshire Development Corporation.

The pub is next door to St Peter's Church, which stopped hosting regular services in 1995 and is now looked after by the CCT, which oversees redundant places of worship.