Boozer must go to ea
One last look inside
The death knell is tolling for one of Maidstone’s most prominent pubs.
The Wheatsheaf, which presides over the junction of the A229 Loose Road and A274 Sutton Road in Maidstone, is to be pulled down.
The pub has been closed since January 1 last year, after KCC purchased the property from the landlords Rossa and Renee Kenny, who had run the inn since 1984.
The highways authority intends to pull down the building to make room for a larger junction arrangement.
KCC has submitted a planning application to Maidstone council seeking permission for the demolition.
The plans say demolition is expected to take six weeks and will include the three-storey main building, three extensions and two outbuildings.
Work will be carried out between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, with no work on Sundays or bank holidays. Any slab waste will be broken up on site into manageable sizes and taken away in 20-tonne lorries.
KCC acknowledges there will be dust created, and with residential properties nearby, pledges to keep that to the minimum by frequent hosing down with water. Lorries will also be
hosed down before leaving the site.
Asbestos is present in part of the building which will require specialist handling to remove it safely.
The demolition will make way for a junction improvement as part of KCC’s Delivering Growth Without Gridlock plan.
It said the new junction, costing £2.5 million would improve traffic flow and reduce air pollution.
The Wheatsheaf has been a local landmark since 1830 - the last year of the reign of George IV.
There had been a drinking establishment on the site since 1786 when Charles II was on the throne. It was then that Samuel Coggins, who was described as a carpenter and furniture-maker, who lived there, first applied for a licence to sell beer. He leased the building with the freehold held by Thomas Hackwood of Boughton Monchelsea who had extensive land-holdings throughout Boughton and the Suttons.
When Mr Hackwood died in 1803, the freehold passed to his son Geoffrey and by that time the beer house was run by Joseph Hutchins, but was still limited to ales and cider.
Mr Hutchins remained behind the bar until his death in 1821, when his widow Emily took over and stayed till 1828.
By now the building was considered structurally unsafe, so the demolition of the first Wheatsheaf was ordered and in 1830 the pub we see now was completed. There were eight different landlords in succession until Harry King took over the pub and ran it during the First World War. George Finch was in charge during the Second World War. Three more landlords followed until in 1984 the Kennys bought the pub and stayed at the helm for 35 years.
The planning application can be viewed on the Maidstone council website.
The reference is 21/501019.