The historic Still & Star pub in Aldgate, dating back to the 1800s, faces demolition with a new bid to replace it with an office block.
Image: Still & Star, 1968. Photo Credit: Courtesy Heritage Assets/The National Brewery Centre.
A new threat to the Still and Star pub in Aldgate arrives with a fresh bid to demolish the historic building and replace it with a sprawling office block. On a quiet alley within the bustling city stands one of the last surviving relics of the City of London’s working-class past. Dating back to the 1800s, the unassuming pub is a rare remaining working-class pub in the City.
Initial plans to demolish the pub were first made in 2016. The Victorian Society, alongside other heritage organisations, campaigned successfully for the City of London to grant the pub Asset of Community Value Status and it was spared demolition.
Back in 2016, the The Victorian Society stated, ‘Such a building is truly unique in the City of London…It is highly unlikely that there are any other pubs of this sort left which makes its survival all the more remarkable.’
However, it is clear that the pub is once again at risk. The 4C Hotel Group have unveiled renewed plans which still plan to destroy the building. The Victorian Society’s latest objection is outlined by Tom Taylor, Conservation Adviser for the The Victorian Society, ‘what is significant about this building is firstly the survival of its fabric and secondly the associated survival of a small part of the historic street layout.’ It must be noted that the proposed plans intend to raze the entire historic alleyway in which the pub is situated.
We seek a compromise between the commercial interests of the City and the historic significance of this pub. We request that the Still and Star is left intact, and that the development of offices is built beside it.
The Victorian Society is the charity championing Victorian and Edwardian buildings in England and Wales. Our Conservation Advisers help local planning authorities and churches to make better decisions about adapting Victorian and Edwardian buildings to the way we live now, while keeping what is special about them. We also seek to engage the public in our campaigns to help increase the likelihood of conserving buildings.
21/03/2019
