Here’s that rare event, good news relating to an inter-war building in Norfolk. As both the EDP and the BBC have reported, the Iron Duke public house in Great Yarmouth has, after a sustained campaign by local residents, been awarded a Grade II listing by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The playful seaside building, built in the late 1930s and finally completed in 1948, has stood empty for several years now, and was thought to be in danger of demolition. Fortunately, it has at least two things going for it.

One is its architectural interest. As a spokesperson for Historic England put it, ‘The Iron Duke’s Art Deco style, with its distinctive massing, curved frontages and flat roofs, is visually striking and architectural elements such as the fluted columns are unusual and quirky.’

One might pause to wonder why, when it comes to preserving our generally under-appreciated inter-war public buildings, ‘unusual and quirky’ is invariably given priority over ‘characteristic and well-integrated’, but let’s pass over that for a moment, thrilled as we are with the decision to protect this pleasing structure.

The other point in the Iron Duke’s favour its its intact quality — the fact that it has not been much messed about and hence retains many of its now rather unusual original features.

‘The building, which was built in the late 1930s and completed in 1948, is an increasingly rare example of a well-preserved inter-war pub. Inside the Iron Duke, historic internal fixtures and fittings can still be seen, illustrating the original design, and the layout survives in its original configuration with a vestibule leading into a large open plan lounge bar and saloon bar.’

So, the Iron Duke has held onto its original floorplan, joinery and other elements of period design. It is gratifying that Historic England have taken account of this. We are all pleased, here at North Norfolk Planning Watch, that Great Yarmouth, which suffered so appallingly in the Second World War and in the years that followed sometimes appeared to struggle to retain its distinctive character, can at least keep this attractive public house.

In passing, though, it is worth noting that Historic England is not always so scrupulous in its researches. Anyone who sees this blog regularly will know of NNPW’s ongoing attempt to preserve Blakeney’s New Rectory — an attractive, purpose-built parsonage of c. 1925 — from demolition. In this case, when the planning application was up for consideration by North Norfolk District Council, neither Historic England nor indeed the NNDC’s conservation officer made any attempt whatsoever to set foot inside the New Rectory in order to examine the interior: whether the floorplan is still that of the (extant) architect’s drawings of 1924, whether strikings Arts & Crafts details such as a prominent staircase and delightful fire surrounds are still in place, whether in fact most ‘fixtures and fittings’ are unchanged since the building was erected nearly a century ago. Nor do they seem interested in how many inter-war purpose-built parsonages survive. (Hint: fewer than inter-war pubs, actually.) In truth, their collective lack of curiosity regarding the New Rectory is quite remarkable. It would be very interesting to discover more about the reasons for it, and how general these are.

In the meantime, however, let’s all just raise a glass to this very welcome recognition for the Iron Duke of Great Yarmouth, and look forward to the day when it finds an owner who can bring it back to life as a fully-functioning pub.