The Black Horse Renovation - Latest News
The Black Horse, November 2010. Picture by Gillian Day (click for larger view)
Pictures of the renovation in our Gallery
The landmark pub/restaurant The Black Horse is undergoing important renovation and enhancement work and the proprietors Stacey & Carla Garey would like to take this opportunity to inform the Appleby Magna villagers and our valued customers of how these changes and improvements will affect them.
The Black Horse is over 400 years old parts of which are Grade 2 listed, it was well built originally having secondary internal walls which gave a greater level of stability. However the exterior wall timbers have over the years started to rot which needs to be remedied as a priority.
As you can imagine over 400 years many alterations will have taken place already. A new raised tiled roof was built due to a major fire which completely destroyed its original thatched one. Sewerage provisions of the 1950s meant the addition of ladies and gents toilets. The 1970s brought the change to the entrance of the pub.
Marstons Brewery are committed to this project wholeheartedly and are investing a major sum to ensure that the Black Horse continues to thrive.
The work will involve extensive renovation to the side wall to replace the decaying timbers, rendering to the building, some landscaping to the gardens and general maintenance. A schedule of the work can be viewed within the pub also a photo showcase of the progress being made please feel free to come and see the transformation as it happens.
Finally Marstons and Stacey & Carla would like to take this opportunity to express their sincere thanks and appreciation to the villagers for any inconvenience that they have to endure whilst work is in progress and we hope that you will be rewarded by the pub continuing to have an historic place within the village for future generationsPrevious News - November 2011
Work starts in January 2012 on repairs to the walls of this old inn. The picture above shows wooden struts supporting the problem areas before the work started.
Carla Garey, proprietor of the inn, says:
"We were made aware of the damage when we first moved into the pub and the brewery informed us that the cracks and walls were progressively leaning out wards. Obviously I was unaware of the extent and hoped that is was more cosmetic than structural.
When the main, listed wall seemed to be moving outward, we decided to seek advice and ensure the property was structurally sound."
The exterior walls of the property are on a tight corner and every time a large vehicle drives past the property, it causes air vibrations which makes the situation worse.
Carla called in a structural engineer who told them that the timber frame holding the structure of the property contains rot. Over the years previous tenants have injected concrete into the walls as a cost effective way of stabilising them. This short term solution increased the weight on the already fragile timber frame, preventing it from breathing and so causing the wood to rot more quickly, becoming brittle and breaking away.
The brewery took this seriously and instructed a second opinion from a more senior engineer who advised that in the time between the two viewings of the property, parts of the exterior panels had begun to come away from the wall itself. Stabilising timber has been used to reinforce the structure and an action plan is being upt in place to minimise the impact over the longer term.
The property was originally well built and luckily there is a secondary internal wall which supports the internal structure of the building, ensuring no risk to the property as a whole. Parts of that wall have stood for over 400 years, surviving two world wars and a serious fire in the thatched roof which burnt parts of the building to the ground.
However, it is the exterior section of the wall that gives the pub its character and is the only part of the building that is Grade 2 listed within a strict conservation area.
Carla says: "Throughout the process of the surveys, we had an ongoing battle to confirm who would foot the cost of the work once the plans were created to fix the wall. As it stands, the responsibilty seems to lie with the brewery who own the bricks and mortar of the property.
"The plan moving forward is to scaffold the property and stabilise the building ensuring its survival for hopefully another 400 years. I am also hoping for a full exterior re-paint which should add value and interest to this historic building."
More information on the Black Horse:
Appleby's Black & White Public House, by Gerald Box (Appleby History web site, Tour of the Village)
The Black Horse Restaurant and Bar (external link)