32 CONTEXT 183 : MARCH 2025 The Crooked House following the fire, at a point when a substantial amount of brickwork remained and the pub was still clearly recognisable. (Photo: Birmingham Mail, 2023) ALEXANDRA DZIEGIEL Bricks, mortar and emotions The response to the loss of the Crooked House pub may have been an outpouring of grief for a society still finding a channel for traumatic emotions in a post-pandemic world. In August 2023, the residents of Himley in South Staffordshire awoke to the news of a devastating fire at their local pub, the Crooked House. It was unclear at this stage how much of the building could be saved, but less than 48 hours later the Crooked House, widely considered an icon of the Black Country, was demolished, leaving only a pile of debris. While these events devastated the local community, no one could have predicted the intense emotional response which came from around the world. Historic buildings, especially pubs, are lost on a regular basis, and may be mourned by those in the local community who remember their bygone days of glory but go unnoticed by the rest of the country. How and why did a remote country pub come to represent wider issues for many people? For my postgraduate dissertation, I decided to examine the reasons behind the strength and scale of the response to the loss of the Crooked House, analysing the emotional and behavioural responses displayed by the public and media, the role of the Black Country in the response to the loss, and the role that the Crooked House played as a pub. This proved to be a fascinating case study not only into the positive contribution that built heritage makes to our wellness as individuals and as a community, but also into the negative impact on wellness when that heritage is suddenly lost. The loss of the Crooked House was extensively reported all over the world, often with the emotional charge given to a natural disaster. The loss was frequently compared by local people interviewed in the media to losing a loved one. I decided to compare the experiences and responses reported in the media to those reported in an online survey, in order The Crooked House at the height of the fire (Photo: BBC, 2023)
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