Protect the Somerset House Pub from development and preserve its status as an Asset of Community Value.
Why is this important?
There has been a pub on the site of the Somerset since the 1800s. It closed its doors in 2014, and is now the last pub standing in New Marston. A group of local residents are now campaigning to save the pub. The iconic building is one of its kind in the area: a 1930s inter-war public house. Historic England have campaigned to list and protect suburban pubs, which are under threat and closing at a rate of 27 per week.
Marston has already lost The Plasterers Arms, The Jack Russell, The Friar, The Cavalier, The Three Horseshoes, The Bricklayers Arms, and The White Hart, which have all been converted to other uses by property developers. We urgently need community spaces as well as housing, and pubs are an important and irreplaceable part of our heritage. If the Somerset is lost there will be no pubs in New Marston - an area of some 4000 residents.
Marston is in real need of public spaces for eating, drinking and meeting. Many of us know and love the Somerset, and remember it as a thriving pub. We have come together to lobby local government to recognise the importance of preserving our last pub and to campaign to see it re-opened for community use.
Campaign to Save Local Pubs
