Company that demolished pub is forced to rebuild it

For centuries, the sandstone walls of the Punch Bowl Inn greeted passersby on a quiet English country road. Tour guides in Hurst Green pointed out the pub to village visitors: Legend had it that a notorious robber operated out of the pub in the 18th century before he was caught and executed. His ghost still haunts the place, they’dsay.

The pub’s story ended, seemingly, in June 2021 when residents learned that the Punch Bowl Inn had been demolished. Outrage followed. The pub was a listed building, a designation that protects structures of historical significance.

The Ribble Valley borough council took legal action against the pub’s owner, Andrew Donelan, whose company demolished the building. In early March, authorities rejected an appeal from Donelan’s company and ordered them to rebuild the Punch Bowl Inn within 12 months — using the stones from the pub’s rubble.

The order“is pretty unique,”tom Pridmore, Ribble Valley’s tourism officer, said.“if you could see the pile of rubble, by golly, what a job that’s going to be.”

Donelan’s company purchased the inn in 2015. The company argued one of the pub’s chimneys was in danger of collapse. The Ribble Valley council said that did not justify demolishing the structure.

The Punch Bowl Inn, which dates to the 18th century, was once a bustling pub but became less popular as competition in the region grew, officials said. It had been vacant since Donelan Trading Ltd. acquired it, but it remained a local landmark cherished for its folklore and historic designation.