A pub that dates back to the 17th century has been forced to shut.
The Black Horse, on Liverpool Road, Warrington, is the town's oldest pub. However, recent signs of movement has meant it is "at risk" of collapse. It will be closed for two to three months so restructuring work can be carried out.
The pub was built in the early 1630s and is now a Grade II listed building. Plans to revamp the pub were given the green light earlier this year, but urgent work now needs to be brought forward in order to stabilise the building, reports CheshireLive.
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Landlady Rebecca Green only took over the pub in May having previously run the Causeway in Wilderspool, Cheshire, which closed for good recently. The front room of the Black Horse, where pool and darts were played, is covered in tarpaulin having been shut off for three years. The rest of the pub remained open.
Rebecca told CheshireLive : "The pool room, which would be my lounge, is very damp and was actually falling down. So we’ve had conservationists and heritage people inspecting the work as it’s been going along.
"The whole pub has got to shut for health and safety reasons. The regulars are sad but pleased that the work is being done.
A planning application by Hawthorn The Community Pub Co, who were acquired by Admiral Taverns last year, has been lodged asking for conditions on the planning consent to be discharged so work can be carried out quickly.
It states: "We recently revisited site with the propping and structural engineer and it appears the building has some new movement, perhaps due to the recent high winds, we therefore request a speedy response to discharge the conditions, or take a view that the current information may be sufficient to begin the stabilising works, and let us proceed as the building is at risk."
The pub is also said to be haunted, with reports of several ghostly goings-on inside. Asked if she thought the Black Horse was indeed haunted, Rebecca replied: "It’s creepy, very creepy. There’s lots of noises, lots of knocking but we can’t figure out where it’s coming from. It's really weird, it’s in the walls. Apparently there was also a priest hole in the pub as well which was quite creepy."
Among the legends of the Black Horse is that it is haunted by a 'crawling man'. He was seen by a gatekeeper on the nearby Sankey Canal, crawling on the street. The story goes that the Black Horse was the scene of the last local skirmish between Roundheads and Cavaliers during the Civil War.
A party of Royalists was fleeing the area and called at the pub, which then had stables, demanding horses. The landlord Giles Boston refused and was shot and staggered from the building looking for help. It is thought that his ghost is the “crawling man”.
Cheshire Live approached Admiral Taverns for comment regarding the closure.
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