Repairs to historic Saracen's Head hotel, Southwell, set to begin amid residents concerns
Work to repair and preserve a hotel that once played host to a king is set to begin imminently.
The Saracen’s Head, Southwell, has a rich history — including hosting notable visitors such as Oliver Cromwell, King Charles I, Charles Dickens, Lord Byron and D H Lawrence — but parts of the hotel have fallen into disrepair.
The unoccupied 15th Century North Range has been included on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register for many years.
This listed because of some decay, collapse of the lime ash floor and limited penetration by vegetation.
Historic England records it in a low priority category with slow decay and a solution for repair and maintenance agreed but not yet implemented.
The state of the building has caused concerns for a group of Southwell residents who fear the hotel, once a “jewel in the crown alongside the minster itself”, is insufficiently protected and maintained.
In a statement calling for action, the group said: “This is an iconic building of local and indeed national importance because of its distinctive history and architecture. It has not fared well in recent years and we believe that the neglect began long before the pandemic.
“The owner, Greene King, expresses pride in its rich heritage of running pubs and hotels for over 200 years and claims on its website: ‘At Greene King we are passionate about delivering our purpose to pour happiness into lives. That’s for our customers, our team, our pub partners, our suppliers and the communities in which we live, operate and serve.’
“It seems, however, that the Saracens Head and Southwell have experienced very little of this passionate commitment. Indeed, the North Range outbuilding is officially on Historic England’s At Risk register and in need of serious care and investment if it is once again to become a comfortable and attractive place for visitors to stay, and for local people to meet and to enjoy a meal and a drink.
“Some repair work on the external fabric of the building is being undertaken but the Elizabethan wall paintings inside are now very fragile and at high risk.”
Group member Vivien Scorer added: “It’s inexplicable why the owner should let it fall into this state of apparent disrepair.
“We are just hoping to stop the rot.”
Southwell Community Archaeology Group has extensively studied Elizabethan wall paintings within the hotel, which are claimed to be rare non-ecclesiastical examples of such.
Concern has been expressed about damage to the paintings potentially resulting from damp.
Now, Greene King has confirmed that work is set to begin to repair the building.
A Greene King spokesman said: “We understand the concerns of residents and have been working closely with the leaseholders of The Saracen’s Head, local planning officers, Historic England and specialist contractors to organise repairs to the North Range building. Repairs will be starting imminently and last for 12 weeks.
“We also recently arranged for experts to inspect the Elizabethan paintings in The Saracen’s Head, who took the opinion that the paintings have not deteriorated in recent times.”
The work will be funded by Greene King, but surveys and plans needed prior to the work were funded with a grant from Historic England paid to the leaseholder.
