Historic Yapton pub set to close its doors for good

The uniquely named Shoulder of Mutton and Cucumbers has seen its last pint served and its final pub snack consumed.

A new future awaits for the listed Georgian building in Main Road after it fell victim to a dwindling trade.

The business closed on August 1 and will never re-open.

Owner Enterprise Inns plc has now submitted a planning application to Arun District Council to convert the pub into four flats.

A further four flats will be built above a block of eight garages. Parking for two more cars will be provided as well.

The company has also asked for listed building consent to enable the work to take place in the grade two listed building.

A statement by Enterprise Inns' planning agent, Alan Baker, with the planning application states that the Shoulder of Mutton has no future as a pub.

"Although the public house may have a connection with Yapton, the building needs to change with the enormous change in social habits.

"This is not a pub with a famous restaurant or wonderful historic features but a rundown establishment which is no longer welcoming and a new use is needed which preserves and enhances this part of the village.

"Commercially, it is not viable which is why it has closed."

He provides evidence which shows that the main income from the bar has halved in the four years to about 21,500 a year since Enterprise Inns acquired the pub through a company takeover.

Coupled with a fall in food trade, this has led to a drop in licensee profit by more than a third in the same period to some 20,000 annually.

Furthermore, the cost of making good the deterioration in the pub's condition by addressing the structural problems and general repairs would cost around 180,000, which means the work was not viable.

Added to this cost was the fact that the pub would still only have four parking spaces and occupy a secondary location within the village. This means the risk of failure would still remain unacceptably high, he states.

Mr Baker, or architects Baker Associates, comments that the proposed development will consist of two large two-bedroom flats, four one-bedroom flats, for potential home working, and two more one-bedroom flats.

The scheme has been designed to echo the type of stable courtyard which may have existed when the pub was built. The block of flats had been kept low in height because of the surrounding buildings.

The Main Road frontage will see little change under the proposals, while the removal of lean-to toilets at the rear and new doors and windows will improve that side of the building. There are no interior features worth preserving, he adds.

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