The Grade 11 Listed Baring Hall Hotel is presently up for sale for over £1 million pounds.
The project is supporting the Asset of Community Value (ACV) Bid, involving gathering all the information needed (such as surveys, business plan, etc) to bid to purchase the public house, with the intention to see it prosper as a thriving business to benefit the town centre and the surrounding area.
This was original objective in 1882 when it was built as part of Lord Northbrook’s artistic suburb vision for Grove Park. The pub was designed by Ernest Newton (past RIBA war-time president). Newton’s beautifully crafted building as part of the artistic suburb vision was inspired by Bedford Park (promoted as the ‘healthiest place in the world’). Newton also designed E. Nesbit’s house The Three Gables (now sadly demolished, but once the inspiration for the plot of The Railway Children).
For the past decade The Baring Trust lobbied and supported the campaign to save The Baring Hall Hotel from demolition – alongside residents, community groups and amenity groups including The Victorian Society, The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), SAVE Britain’s Heritage, the Ancient Monument Society (AMS) Heritage of London Trust (HOLT) and The Princes Foundation, generating numerous press articles and the gaining the support of Stephen Fry.
The campaign was successful in obtaining a High Court injunction and requesting a judicial review in regards to the unlawful planning decision to grant demolition for the one of the very first ‘improved’ pubs to be built in England.
In June 2018 the Baring Hall Hotel and associated stable block was added to the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The building is now listed at Grade II. It is also registered as an Asset of community Value (ACV).
In December the pub was put up for sale and and in accordance with its ACV status, the local community have a right to bid in order to purchase the public house.
The deadline to submit this bid is May 6th and we need funds now to complete the steps needed to achieve a successful bid. These include carrying out evaluation surveys, developing a feasibility study and business plan plus raising the capital to buy the pub. A donation of even a few pounds helps the project to restore and buy back this much-love local heritage asset in order to create a much needed healthy vibrant town centre neighbourhood.