About 80 firefighters fought the fire that engulfed the Burn Bullock pub, a Grade II UNESCO World Heritage Site in the London borough of Mitcham, on the evening of April 19, the British newspaper reported on April 20. The Standard.
London Fire Brigade said the blaze damaged three floors and destroyed the roof of the pub. Around 80 firefighters and 12 fire engines from Norbury, Wimbledon and Tooting responded to the fire at 7.30pm on Friday. The online map shows the Burn Bullock as a pub that has closed permanently. It is not known whether the building, which has been in “very poor condition” in recent years, will be able to be restored.
The three-story building was built around the 16th century, the left wing was erected in the 16th-17th centuries, and the facade was erected in the early to mid-18th century. King George IV made a “brief visit” to the establishment, which was a meeting place during the Napoleonic Wars, according to Merton Council's local heritage service.
Historic England has added the building to its register of heritage sites at risk. It noted that the club was “illegally occupied as a house in which people lived repeatedly, and in connection with this was subject to destruction.”
Julia Gault, secretary of Mitcham Cricket Club, which is across the car park from the pub, said the site had been occupied by “who knows who” for a decade. She said the pub was previously known as the King's Head Hotel and was renamed after its owner, Mitcham first-class cricketer Burne Bullock, who died in 1954.
Independent Merton Park ward councilor Edward Foley said firefighters were still working to extinguish the building when he visited the fire scene on Saturday morning.
“It’s just terrible that this historic building is no longer there, it bothered the residents. It is very sad that such a beautiful building, which has fallen into disrepair, is covered in graffiti. It hasn't sunk in yet, to be honest, I was there this morning at seven in the morning and there were a lot of people walking their dogs who were very upset. People have been fearing something would happen to the pub for quite some time,” the councilor said.
On April 11, 2023, the British The Mirror reported that more than 150 pubs closed in England and Wales in the first three months of 2023; the owners cited rising prices for electricity, food and a decrease in the number of guests due to the rising cost of living as the reasons. Overall, the number of pubs being demolished or repurposed increased by almost 60% at the start of the year as the area was hit by huge energy bills.
In May 2023, a strong fire broke out in the historic building of the General Post Office in the capital of the Philippines. Rescuers brought the fire under control, but the structure was heavily damaged.
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