Punch Bowl Inn: Owners of demolished listed pub told to rebuild

The former Punch Bowl Inn is a Grade II listed site but was demolished in June

The owners of a Grade II listed pub which was demolished without permission have been ordered to rebuild it.

The Punch Bowl Inn in Hurst Green, Lancashire, was knocked down in June 2021 after an application for caravan pitches on the site was rejected.

Historic England said it was "saddened" the late 18th Century pub was demolished "without consent".

Ribble Valley Council has ordered it must be rebuilt to its original plan based on architecture records.

A council spokeswoman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she understood an appeal had been launched by the recipients against the order or other planning matters associated with the former pub.

The authority has refused several planning applications for the Longridge Road site in recent years by Wilpshire developer Donelan Trading Ltd, after the pub was put up for sale in 2013.

These have included conversion, part-demolition and extension works to provide holiday lets and a cafe, while the most recent application, in March 2021, which looked to put 15 static caravan pitches on the site.

That application was refused by the planning committee in March.

The Punch Bowl Inn

• A plaque above the door stated that the original building dated from 1793, while an extension was added in the mid 19th Century

• Thought to originally have been a pair of cottages with a barn, which was later converted to be part of the pub

• It was built from sandstone with a slate roof and first received listed status in November 1983

Source: Historic England

In reports by planning officers written before the pub's demolition, they said the proposed caravan development would be harmful to the setting of the listed inn building, the open countryside and the Forest of Bowland area.

Numerous letters of objection were received by the planning department, one of which stated that the owner should not be given "a right to do anything with this land until a full investigation into the illegal destruction of the Punch Bowl Inn is complete".

The local parish council also objected, citing factors including overdevelopment, road safety and the demolition of the inn.

A Historic England spokeswoman said the organisation was "saddened to hear the Grade II listed Punch Bowl Inn was demolished without consent".

"The building dated back to the late 1700s and was a local landmark along Longridge Road," she added.

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