Extinction threat to legendary blaze pub
The fire was to be kept lit summer and winter, day and night. Otherwise a ghost – some say the Devil himself – would rise and bring terror to the new owners.
But not only is the fire out but the pub has been left an empty shell after a scheme to refurbish it into a nine-bedroom hotel and gastropub was halted half-way through because of cash problems.
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Hide AdAnd there is little national park chiefs can do. Head of planning Val Dilcock explained: "We are aware work has stopped and have been keeping an eye on it.
"But there are quite a lot of sites where work has stopped because of the recession and we have been urged by the Government not to come down too hard on developers.
"We will continue to monitor it. We can't force them to finish. But we can make them keep the site reasonably tidy."
The history of the pub overlooking the Hole of Horcum, also known as the Devil's Punchbowl, is steeped in ancient myth and smuggling legend.
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Hide AdAccording to folklore the Devil turned up at the pub in disguise but was flung into the fire by locals, who feared if the flames ever went out he would return. In another version, an Excise man was murdered by some smugglers he was trying to arrest.
They buried his body under the fireplace – and the landlord, frightened he would also be hanged, invented the story of the fire to cover up the crime.
In more recent years the award-winning pub was loved as much for its good ale as its creepy ambience. But various owners complained its isolated position made it hard to make a living, however many barrels of Theakston's they went through..
In 2007, consent was refused to turn it into 13 holiday flats after howls of protest about the loss of the pub. The property changed hands again and in 2008 a scheme for an improved bar and restaurant, with nine hotel bedrooms was approved.
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Hide AdArchitect Simon Bennett, of Pickering-based firm Escape, said: "When my client bought the pub two years ago it had been left empty. All the ceilings had collapsed. It was derelict.
"It was very close to falling down when he bought it. It was only the scaffolding holding it up. It was being destroyed. The pipes had burst, and there was a water feature running through the pub.
"He invested a considerable sum of money to shore up the building."
Then a scheme had to be designed that would meet planning and building regulations.
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Hide AdHe said: "It is not a listed building. But it was such an historical building and held in such high regard it was considered that anything other than a hotel and pub would be turned down and the existing frontage had to remain.
"The end result would have been a great venue for weddings and shooting parties. Unfortunately, work has stopped on site. I was told it was for financial reasons."
The building was being made watertight inside, so the fabric would be maintained.
But Scarborough and Whitby Tory MP Robert Goodwill said: ""It is very sad to see such an iconic hostelry in the sorry state it is in. Let's hope someone comes in to rescue the building and bring it back to its former glory."
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Hide AdAuthor Roger Osborne, who objected to the flats scheme, said it would be wonderful if someone could save the project.
He added: "My feeling always was it was a shame to lose such an historic pub. Just because it was in an isolated position did not mean it couldn't work as a pub.
"It is on an historic route and a building which is very historically significant."
Fire legend just kept smouldering
According to one version of the legend of the Saltersgate fire, the Devil turned up at the pub disguised as a traveller and the locals hurled him into the fireplace.
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Hide AdThey then resolved to keep it burning in case he tried to get out again.
In another version, the landlord allowed smuggled goods to be traded on the premises so locals would not have to pay the tax.
Excise Men carried out a string of raids but were always spotted by a lookout.
But eventually one hid in some farm buildings until he caught the smugglers.
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Hide AdThen one smuggler came back and struck the officer a fatal blow over the head with a bar stool.
The landlord told his family that the fire was never to go out – so no one would ever search under the hearth for the body.
By the time he died 30 years later, the tradition was established.