Revamp plans for 200-year-old south Shropshire village pub saved by the community with government grant

The Crown Inn in Newcastle-on-Clun, near Clun, was closed in January 2023 but the parish council has spent the last two years attempting to get grant funding to reopen the pub for the community.

In December, locals said they were “delighted” after they were awarded the grant funding in December.

Steve Burge from Newcastle-on-Clun Parish Council said at the time the community had spent two years on the grant applications for the Department of Levelling Up.

"When it closed we decided we wanted to take control and bring it into community ownership,” he said.

Now the parish council has submitted its plans for the pub to the planning authority.

In the application to Shropshire Council, Henry Beddoes Architectural Design, which has been hired to design the renovation, said: “The Crown Inn has been part of village life in Newcastle for more than 200 years, offering food, drink, accommodation and entertainment, but has lately fallen into a state of decline, and since January 2023, closure.

“Following several meetings and public consultations, the Parish Council decided in late 2023 to attempt to buy the pub, and run it on behalf of the community.

“A grant was approved, in late December 2024, and so now the Parish Council is buying the pub from the current owners, and beginning the process of refurbishment and modernisation.

“The principal part of this process which requires planning permission is the construction of a single storey extension to the rear of the building, to house new ladies and gents toilet facilities, and a multi-purpose community room.”

The architects explain that the “multi-purpose community room” will be used by many different community groups, for example book clubs, or for music rehearsal, or as a space for the arts and craft groups.

The planning application is expected to be considered by Shropshire Council later in the year and the pub is likely to reopen by late 2025.