A city centre pub wants to reclaim its original garden.
The Victory in Middle Street leased its garden to Browns restaurant, which built an extension over it.
But when Browns went bust, the land returned to the pub, and now the extension has been knocked down.
Now, owner Doug Lyons has applied for planning permission to use it as a pub garden again.
The application says: “The site will be returned to an open condition and will be used by The Victory Pub, providing a much needed extension its existing small courtyard garden.
“As part of the proposed works, the roof of the existing extension residing on the site has been removed and the external walls partially demolished.
“Openings in the original external walls of 3-4 Duke Street, created to provide access into the extended dining space, will be infilled to return 3-4 Duke Street to its original form.
“New paving will be laid, raising the existing ground level to meet that of the existing courtyard associated with The Victory to create an accessible environment.
“No changes to the opening times of The Victory and its existing courtyard garden are proposed.”
The application details its use from the late nineteenth century onwards, based on historical maps. In 1876, the plot had a small structure at the north end, and a tree in the middle.
By 1973, that small structure was an independent unit, accessed via an alleyway from Middle Street.
A 2005 map shows the plot without any tree or structure – by this time, it had been leased to Browns and the extension built.
When I worked at Browns in the 80s/90s it was quite a sizeable yard shared between both pub and Browns with a small lean to to keep our spuds, etc . Very handy for a quick pint!
Excellent
A garden at the back of The Victory? Who knew?