Elephant and Castle to lose pub of same name after 250 years... with Foxtons to open instead

 
Revoked: The Elephant And Castle lost its licence in March (Picture: Google Street View)
Google Street View
Tom Marshall2 June 2015

A historic pub at the Elephant and Castle roundabout is facing permanent closure with developers putting forward plans to turn the site into a Foxtons estate agents.

Consultants acting for the estate agency have written to Southwark Council about plans to turn The Elephant & Castle, off New Kent Road, into a new branch.

Though it was built in the 1960s, a tavern of the same name has been there for 250 years - and gave its name to the surrounding area.

The pub lost its licence and closed in March after a drinker was stabbed in the head with a pen in January, which became lodged and had to be removed in hospital.

James Hatts, 34, editor of the London SE1 community website, said: "There has been a pub at that road junction with that name for 250 years.

"To lose that will be a historic turning point for this part of London, even though the modern pub itself is undistinguished and rundown."

The proposal has already angered campaigners opposing large regeneration schemes in Southwark, including at the nearby Heygate and Aylesbury estates.

Housing campaigner Piers Corbyn, a weather forecaster and brother of Labour's Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, said: "It's a historic landmark and turning it into an estate agent is just an expression of the disgraceful events taking place in Southwark.

"This is a provocation to anybody that is concerned about the heritage of the area."

Police outside Foxtons in Brixton after it was targeted by vandals at a protest in April (Picture: Rex)
Rex

Another Foxtons in south London, three miles away in Brixton, has been targeted by vandals who blame developers and estate agents for driving up rents and forcing out ordinary Londoners.

They shattered a large window pane and wrote "yuppies out" on the shop front during an anti-gentrification protest in April.

In the letter sent to Southwark Council on behalf of Foxtons, chartered surveyors Montagu Evans say planning permission is not needed to change the use - unless the pub becomes registered as an asset of community value.

A spokesperson for Foxtons said: "We’ve been operating in Elephant & Castle for years now from our nearby London Bridge office, so we’re really excited at the prospect of opening an office right in the heart of the area.

"In the last year alone we’ve dealt with hundreds of properties and people there and having a new office on their doorstep will allow us to provide exceptional service and local expertise, whilst playing a more active role in the community."

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