Plans Submitted for Further Funding to Restore Listed Wartime Pub

The Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust (GYPT) has submitted plans seeking additional grant funding to restore the Grade II listed Iron Duke pub, located in the seaside Norfolk town, to its 1930s peak. The charity, which aims to reopen the currently derelict establishment, previously received nearly £300,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and submitted an application for a second round of funding on Thursday. Bernard Williams, chairman of GYPT, commented on the initiative, stating, “This is an extraordinarily exciting project which will see a fascinating and beautiful building brought back to life.” He further added, “The robust and thorough approach to the development period has left no stone unturned.” Williams detailed the preparatory work, including “extensive below-ground surveys, historic paint analysis; even unexploded bomb surveys.” He concluded that “All this work, together with the sensitive architectural design work and business planning, will help get the building restored and back in use.” The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (SAHGB) reports that the pub received a special licence to serve troops stationed in the area during World War Two. The SAHGB also noted that the pub resumed operations for the public in 1948, but its previous owner boarded it up in 2007. GYPT acquired the property in February 2021, with an anticipated reopening date of 2026. Carl Smith, the Conservative leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, expressed the local authority’s satisfaction in supporting “such an ambitious vision.” The charity, in collaboration with its commercial partner Zaks, envisions the building housing a pub and restaurant within an art deco-style setting, alongside two holiday flats. GYPT announced its intention to submit applications for both planning permission and listed building consent during the upcoming week. Conversely, the Campaign for Pubs group has voiced opposition to the Iron Duke’s plans. The group stated its preference for the pub to be reinstated as a “traditional pubic house with its original features restored.” In a statement, the Campaign for Pubs further elaborated: “Our view of the Iron Duke is that the pub’s location, at the northern end of North Denes, is in an area served by very few public houses and we would expect that the seaside holiday trade coupled with the local population would take advantage of the pub should it be recommissioned.”