The Glynne Arms, Crooked House, Himley, Staffordshire

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The Glynne Arms - The Crooked House

The Crooked House, 2014

The Glynne Arms, Himley. 'The Crooked House'.

Arial view of demolition site; August 23, 2023.
Remains of the three butresses can be seen in the centre

Photo: Lee Bates.

UPDATE: 06-08-2023
The Crooked House was completely gutted by fire on the night of 5th August 2023.
The building was demolished two days later and sadly is no more.
In June 2023 the pub closed for the last time, the premises was sold off by Marstons, the Wolverhapton based brewery company, two weeks after the new owner took control, the building was set on fire and within a couple of days it was completely demolished!

This famous establishment, although not strictly located in Gornal, was just over the border in the Parish of Himley and probably one of the most famous pubs in the country - maybe the world.
I make no excuses for including it!

This was originally built as a farmhouse in 1765, the house was converted to a public house around 1830 and thereafter called the Glynne Arms after the landowner at the time Sir Stephen Glynne, in recent times it has been given the popular 'The Crooked House' signage as most would know it.

The sensational appearance was due to mining subsidence that occurred in the middle of the 19th century, this canted the building over 15 degrees, most buildings would have collapsed with this amount of disturbance, but with the addition of supporting buttresses it has remarkably survived.

The locals knew it as the 'siden house', or 'sidin' (side-in) this being a local expression for crooked.

The Crooked House was remotely situated at the end of a winding lane, passing quarries and landfill sites, under two derelict bridges which once carried the mineral railways from nearby collieries, the areas industrial past is buried in time although presently this is far from being a picturesque setting.
The approach route may be spoilt but this unique tourist attraction was one of the great obscurities of the Black Country.
Just entering the establishment gave an unsettling feeling of inebriation long before the effects of alcohol, fixtures and fittings have been customised to suit and a marble apparently rolling up the slope of a table was quite bizarre.

1927. The Birmingham Post, Wednesday June 1st.

THE "CROOKED HOUSE" AT HIMLEY SOLD

The famous "Crooked House," Himley, otherwise the "Glynne Arms" was included in the sale of the estate of the late Mr. G.T. Veitch, which took place at Dudley yesterday, and it was purchased by the present licensee (Mrs. S.A. Glaze) for £2.000.
The exterior and interior of the building seem to set at defiance the general laws of gravity, and this fact has caused it to be visited by many thousands of people. Its extraordinary deviation from the perpendicular was due to the removal of coal from under one end of the house only, and it is stated that any attempts to obtain coal from under the other end would bring about a collapse of the building.
The licensed title of the property owes its origin to the fact that the estate on which it is situated at one time belonged to Sir Stephen Glynne, who was the brother in law of Mr W.E. Gladstone. It is recorded that Mr. W.E.Gladstone at the age of 19 was a works manager near the licensed property. Yesterday's sale included an armchair in which the auctioneer (Mr. Duncan J. Shedden) suggested the famous statesman might have conducted some of his courtship of Miss Glynne.
The sale included other properties, one of which was a brickyard, which was sold for £8,400. The total realised by the sale was £11,215.
The late Mr. G.T. Veitch was an uncle of the present Lady Mayoress of London, and a noted collector of valuable china and other art treasures.

The Glynne estate bordered land with that of the Earl Of Dudley, and the house virtually straddled that border, sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century, coal was inadvertently mined from below the building on the Glynne side.
Subsequently, one side of the house subsided into the mine workings without any apparent damage to the structure and remarkably survived 'crooked'.

The Estate belonged to the Glynne family since 1779, Sir Stephen was the brother-in-law of Liberal politician William Gladstone, enterprising Glynne became part owner of the Oak Farm Iron and Brick Works.
Although successful at first, bad management had set the company on a downward spiral, in the later part of the 1840s, Gladstone helped rescue Glynne from near bankruptcy when the enterprise got into difficulty, although the Oak Farm Company managed to struggle on, it was eventually sold off after Glynne's death in 1874.

The building was condemned in the 1940s and due for demolition, however to save the 'Crooked House', the buttresses which were already in place on the south side were strengthened.
In the early fifties, it's future was still uncertain due to structurial issues and was declared unsafe.
In 1957, the then owners - The Wolverhampton and Dudley Brewery spent £10,000 on repairs to make the building safe, it wasn't until this time that electricity was installed.
A fire in 1986 damaged some of the upstairs and roof, the brewery spent £360,000 on a facelift the following year.

1930s view of the Crooked House

Vintage Ralph Tuck Real Photo Postcard c1930
This postcard was specially commissioned by W. Davies, 11A Abbey Road, Gornal Wood.
(William Davies was a Stationer & Book Seller in Abbey Road.)

Many picture postcards were produced for what had become a popular tourist attraction.
The John Price & Sons printing company in Bilston produced a large series of postcards depicting local scenes and landmarks during the early 20th century.

Vintage postcard c1906, showing a group - probably including the Glaze family at the rear.

Several postcards were produced in the early 1900s with views of the 'Crooked House' illustrating inside and outside which are both equally remarkable, these cards were printed in full colour.
The following three postcards show the 'Crooked House' as it was referred to around 1900.

The Crooked House frontage.

Vintage John Price & Sons postcard No.58 c1910 (CDM collection)

The 'Magic Table' where marbles appear to run 'up' the table.

Vintage John Price & Sons postcard No.393 c1910 (CDM collection)

Interior view of the Crooked House

Vintage John Price & Sons postcard No.267 c1910. CDM Collection

Licensees:

Another John Price Postcard probably a little later but still with Sarah Ann Glaze signage over the door but the landlord standing in the doorway may be Samuel Green, as another version of this exact view has 'Samuel Green' on the sign.

CDM Collection

1841, John Cartwright, miller, farmer and beerhouse keeper. [Census]

The property was referred to as 'Cartwright House'.

1851, Polly Cartwright, farmer of 30 acres. [Census]

At this time the propery was referred to as Himley Oak Farm, Polly was John Cartrwright's widow, aged 66.

1861, Joseph Woodcock, inn keeper. [Census]
1871, Joseph Woodcock, inn keeper. [Census]
1878, Joseph Bate. [License transfer from Joseph Woodcock]
1881, Unhabited. [Census]
1888-1891, Thomas White, licensed victualler.
1901, Sarah Ann Glaze. [Census]
1904, Mrs. Sarah Glaze. [Kelly's Trade Directory]
1911, Sarah Ann Glaze, publican, widow age 57. [Census]
1912, Mrs. Sarah Ann Glaze. [Kelly's Trade Directory]

Mrs Sarah Glaze purchased the pub in 1927. She had been managing the pub since 1899, Sarah died in December 1937 aged 84 years.

1925-1935, George Henry Glaze - this was Sarah Ann's Son.
1940, George Glaze. [Kelly's Trade Directory]
1940, the Glaze family sold the premises to Johnson & Phipps Ltd., Wolverhampton.
1952, Samuel Green.
1960s-1970s, Arthur John Love.
2010, Wayne Penn.

Another postcard view probably c1915
Many of the old postcards slightly exaggerate the appearance.

CDM Collection

Postcard view looking outwards from the front doorway.

CDM Collection

Postcard view of the bar room, always lots of strange angles.
Among assorted bottles, a Julia Hanson poster hangs by the window (Hansons brewed at Upper High Street, Dudley) and also a Bass & Co. Old Strong Ale sign sits in the foreground.

CDM Collection

At the front door c1950s.

At the back door, 1950s.
Two photos, coutesey of Mr. Ian Shurvinton.

Picture of the front door c1970.

CDM Collection

1910 The County Express, Saturday December 10.

THE "CROOKED HOUSE" INUNDATED

The "Crooked Huse" at Gornal Wood, which is well-known as a curious example of what vicissitudes from mining subsidences a dwelling place can survive, suffered considerably from the floods last week-end. In the low-lying ground near it there gathered a lake of water to the extent of several acres. The depth of water was estimated to be about 30 feet in places. The house was only accessible from the north side. A correspondent visited the scene on Sunday, and had a conversation with the landlord (Mr. G. Glaze), who took him into the house. In the passage which runs from the front to the back of the house were placed boxes and tubs on which to step, and in the refreshment rooms on the south side the furniture was swimming on the water. The cellars of course, were filled with water and generally a scene of disorder prevailed. The landlord said it was impossible to state the damage, but he estimated that in the cellars he had about £200 worth of ales and spirits all under water. Damage to furniture and premises he estimated at another £200, The refreshment room, which was built to accommodate parties for teas, etc., was almost wholly submerged, whilst barrels and other outside effects were floating about. Mr.G. Glaze and family moved on Sunday with hat furniture they could get together to an adjoining house. The Crooked House was not considered safe under such conditions.

CDM Collection

The above four black & white pictures were part of a set distributed by Arthur John Love, Licensee c 1975.
His wife Florence would wager 5 shillings to anyone who could manage to stand upright with both heels against one of the sloping walls, reputedly an impossible task.

1905 The Herald, 12 April.

THE CROOKED HOUSE

On the estate of Earl Dudley at Himley there is a very curious habitation known as the Crooked House. It is a commonplace red-brick building with a wide passage right through, leading to the back premises. It is altogether out of the perpendicular, and slanted towards the south end, which is heavily shored up with thick red brick buttresses. Some part of the outer wall is buried several feet in the ground. These peculiarities are the result of mining operations the under-stratum of the earth in these parts being completely "honeycombed." There are many houses in the Black Country which owing to the same cause are considerably out of the perpendicular: but in many respects the Crooked House is unique. It is as difficult to walk steadily through the doorway as to pace the deck of a vessel in a rolling sea. As you attempt to walk along the warped floor your head and shoulders lean very palpably across the passage, and to maintain the equilibrium is a matter of the greatest difficulty. The rooms of the house are equally out of joint, and present some remarkable optical illusions. The clocks on the walls, although absolutely perpendicular, as their pendulums testify, appear to be hanging sideways at a very pronounced angle. A short glass shelf, one end of which appears to be a fost higher than the other, proves to be absolutely level; while in the tap-room-the house is a tavern-is a table which is apparently slanting; but on which if round marbles are placed at the seemingly lower end they roll to all appearance uphill to the top of the table, and fall over with a bump. These do not exhaust the remarkable features of this curious tenement, but those quoted fully justify its title to the name of "The Crooked House."

this aye fur noggin yeds