Major refurbishment plans at Wellington's Cock Hotel could bring food and community spaces
The owners of Wellington's most famous pub say plans for a major refurbishment will bring the historic venue into the 21st century.
The Cock Hotel, in Holyhead Road, will offer food, an enhanced courtyard and community facilities if plans submitted to Telford & Wrekin Council are given the green light.
But in adding new facilities expected of a pub in 2020, owners Joules Brewery have not forgotten the venue's long history. It has worked with Telford & Wrekin Council's heritage teams to ensure the historic elements are maintained.
The work will see the demolition of several late 20th century additions, such as the bar, and will attempt to reclaim any remaining original fittings such as floor covering and timber.
But one of the most important things for Joules is the provision of food.
It said the requirement for the pub to change to offer facilities "relevant to the current market" was clear during initial work on the project.
"The pub is very dated, poorly equipped and lacks any kind of food offer," the brewery said. "The need to offer food as well as beverages, and therefore the need to provide a modern and well-equipped kitchen was deemed of high priority."
Joules called the current back of house space "substantial and ramshackle", and will bring it all together into one use.
"The current layout includes substantial and ramshackle back of house space," the brewery said. "A poorly fitted domestic kitchen, stores and junk rooms. The proposal is to consolidate all of this space to become a dining space and to form an improved entrance."
Replaced
Part of the current building, a flat-roofed extension, could be knocked down and replaced, and will house a new dining space and modern kitchen.
Asphalt on the current courtyard will be replaced with block paving and turned into a beer terrace.
The car park will be enlarged, with bosses expected increased trade because of the food offering.
Under the plans, the first floor will become a meeting room for clubs, societies and local businesses.
Handwritten signs will be installed around the pub, echoing those that may have been used in the original coaching inn more than 250 years ago.
Joules said the 1980s bar would be replaced because it was of poor quality, dilapidated and detracts from the overall sense of being an old inn.
The 1970s-style cocktail bar will be removed, fixed seating will be upgraded and light fittings replaced.
Former landlords Peter and Liz Arden sold the pub back to Joules in 2018 after running it for the best part of two decades. The brewery had owned the pub from the 19th century until a hostile takeover in the 1970s.
Telford & Wrekin Council will make a decision on the plans in the coming months.
