One of the oldest buildings in Crawley is to undergo vital repairs and restoration work.
Ancient Priors, in High Street, was built around 1450, when Henry VI was on the throne and Jack Cade was organising a rebellion in Sussex and Kent against the high taxes and prices brought on by paying for the 100 Years War.
Some 575 years later, Crawley Borough Council has approved a range of work for the Grade-II* listed building, including re-pointing the chimney stacks using traditional lime mortar, and maintenance of the Horsham stone and clay tiled roofing.
During a meeting of the planning committee, councillors were told that specialists will be brought in to carry out the work.
Repairs will also be carried out on rotten and damaged parts of the timber frame – which the planning officer said was so wet in places you could ‘squeeze it like a sponge’.
While the repairs are unlikely to be cheap, the council – which owns the building – has not yet said how much the work will cost. Sue Mullins (Lab, Northgate & West Green) said it was ‘really important that we don’t just do a bodge job;, adding: “Quality always costs.”
Michael Jones, leader of the council, said: “I can assure councillors that the work is to be carried out by specialist contractors, having a very good knowledge of medieval timber-framed buildings, using traditional methods and materials to ensure that the appearance of the property is not altered.
“Once completed, the council will have restored one of West Sussex’s most important historical properties back to its full splendour for the next 500 years.”
The council bought the medieval building in 2016, earning income from tenant Ask Restaurants until the pandemic saw the branch close.
Once described as “the finest timber-framed house between London and Brighton”, Ancient Priors started life as a private home, passing from owner to owner before becoming the Whyte Harte Inn during the mid-1600s.
When the current White Hart Inn was built further along the High Street in 1770, Ancient Priors became a furniture shop and, more recently, housed restaurants. The restaurants included Minters, which was owned by Crawley lad and boxing legend Alan Minter.
To view the application, log on to planningregister.crawley.gov.uk and search for CR/2024/0472/LBC.
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