Crocker’s Folly
Judith Martin, my friend and former colleague at Pavilions of Splendour, wrote to me about a campaign to rescue a pub in south-east London, and also about a shuttered and derelict pub in St. John’s Wood.
Such a shame. Crocker’s Folly was a superb pub — not just architecturally, though the ceilings were its chief glory. It had good beer, blues bands in the evening and it was close to Lord’s. I knew it well for all those reasons, and not least because of the wonderful folly story attached to it. Here it is, as related in the heavily illustrated £4.99 ebook Follies of London:
Crocker’s Folly in Aberdeen Place was always known as The Crown Hotel, and at first glance it looks like an elaborate Victorian pub with little of the folly about it. A closer look reveals the almost Byzantine elaboration of the pub’s decoration, especially its interiors, and its sheer size, surely unnecessary when catering for a small catchment area — there are few streets in London without a pub on the corner.
The story when it comes is truly satisfying and the perfect material from which follies are made. Frank Crocker knew — just knew — that the terminus for the new railway was going to be in Aberdeen Place, so in 1898 he speculated with all his available cash to build an emporium that would be an irresistible magnet for thirsty travellers alighting from the trains. As worked progressed on his gin palace, so work progressed on the railway, and Mr. Crocker watched in horror as the navvys dug relentlessly past his pride and joy to finish up a mile down the road at Marylebone. Even if the story isn’t totally true — and who is to say it isn’t? — we are still left with a glorious, enormous Victorian pub in a quiet backwater, now properly rechristened Crocker’s Folly.
The last we heard, however, it had burned down. And the next we heard was that it was going to be turned into a Lebanese restaurant. All very nice, but it was such a convenient pub for Lord’s.
But that postcode is packed with rastaquouéres with bulging portfolios and very good reasons for not wishing to return to their native lands. Our architectural heritage is of little concern when twenty luxury apartments can be erected in its place. Hence the £4.2 m price tag, effectively ruling out any future for it as a working pub.
Watch it sink into dereliction, followed by a mysterious fire, then an application to demolish a dangerous structure.
My solution — take out a compulsory purchase order and hand it to the National / Landmark / Vivat Trust in association with CAMRA for regeneration as a real live pub. There’s an excellent precedent in Belfast, where the remarkable Crown Bar is owned and run by the National Trust and is a must-see destination on any tourist itinerary.
It’s places like Crocker’s Folly that draw people to London. That, and our lax taxes, and our reluctance to ask searching questions. If we lose the Crockers of this city, the place will be filled with pointless luxury apartments, gated communities and nothing to see here sir.
And it’s one of my favourite folly stories!
