The George Community Pub (Wickham Market) Ltd and its 321 shareholder members are now the official owners of a Grade II listed pub and are actively seeking a conclusion to the long awaited work to restore the building.

The George pub was closed following a severe fire in 2013 and since then the building has slowly deteriorated. The previous owner bought the site at auction and failed to have the grade II listing removed when heritage experts agreed the building could and should be saved.

The current committee have spent many months producing and submitting a vital grant application to the Heritage Lottery Fund and should know the result sometime later in October.

All being well the start of the development will be November 2018. The planning phase will take approximately 12 months with the second phase of restoration and construction estimated for completion in 2021.

The site has been a blot on the Wickham Market landscape for over 5 years and the group’s aim is to return this important building back to its former use as a pub whilst saving an important community and heritage asset for the benefit of the village.