'Those who destroy history destroy a nation’s pride' - Your Letters: January 15

REBUILD HISTORIC CROOKED HOUSE

The Crooked House must be rebuilt brick by brick on the same site as it once stood. It held 200 years of local and national history before vandals demolished it. Those who destroy history destroy a nation’s pride. South Staffordshire Council is right to require the owner of ATE Farms to rebuild the Crooked House in the same location.

Around 1765 when the Crooked House was built, Himley was semi-rural. An Act of Parliament of 1766 gave approval for Staffs-Worcester Canal to the west of the Dudley estate. Thus began a revolution in transport which developed Birmingham and the Black Country as the ‘Workshop of the World’. The pub at Oak Farm would have gone from serving farm workers, nail-makers and charcoal-burners to catering for the needs of miners, quarry-men and foundry-workers. The nearby South Staffs Leisure Walk runs along the former railway line from Baggeridge Colliery, closure of which in 1968 signified the end of the Industrial Revolution.

The Crooked House cannot be consigned to history books. It needs to be rebuilt where it once stood, so that its significance can be appreciated.

Quarrying and mining under it gave the Crooked House the title of ‘Britain’s wonkiest pub’. Its long history is an important reminder of changes brought by the industrial revolution. It reminds me of the unique dialect of Lower Gornal. Dudley Council bought Himley Hall to remind us of the economic contribution of Lords of Dudley.