Plans have been approved to restore the Old Spotted Dog in Forest Gate, bringing the long-derelict pub back into use alongside new hotel and residential accommodation.
Newham Council’s strategic planning committee approved two applications submitted by Highpride Properties Ltd at a meeting on 9 December. The proposals cover the “restoration and re-use” of the Old Spotted Dog site at 212 Upton Lane, following submissions made last year.
The Old Spotted Dog Forest Gate restoration concerns a building dating back to the 15th century. Newham Council describes it as the borough’s oldest secular building, with historical links suggesting it may once have served as a hunting lodge used by King Henry VIII.
Approved plans involve a “complete restoration” of the structure. This includes removing 20th-century alterations to reveal and reinstate Tudor, Georgian or early Victorian, and late Victorian or Edwardian features. Internal works will address structural problems and restore decorative Victorian elements within the Tudor sections of the building.
The restoration will also involve reinstating windows and brickwork, using materials and detailing that match the original historic fabric. A pub garden with seating areas is proposed at both the front of the site along Upton Lane and to the rear.
Alongside the Old Spotted Dog Forest Gate restoration, two new buildings will be constructed. These will provide a total of 22 residential flats and 14 hotel rooms.
The site sits next to the Old Spotted Dog Ground, which the council says is the oldest senior football ground in London to have been in continuous use since 1880. Clapton Community Football Club, which plays its home games there, raised concerns earlier this year about potential “noise disturbances from football matches and community events”.
In response, planning officers said the proposed flats had been designed so that bedrooms in the affected block do not face the football ground, reducing “potential exposure to noise disturbance”. Re-consultation letters were sent to neighbouring properties in July, and no further representations were received from the club.
A council spokesperson said the developer had concluded that including social housing was not viable because of the cost of renovating the historic building. However, the plans include commitments that 35 per cent of construction jobs, and 50pc of roles in the new pub and hotel, will be offered to Newham residents.
Historic England explained the Grade II listing of the building by stating: “[It is] a well-surviving, if simply constructed, late-C15 or early-C16 house comprising central hall and flanking two-storey cross wings, these with weatherboarded jetties; interesting interior including exposed timbers, hearth with bressummer, other fireplaces and historic joinery including a Victorian bar and back bar.
“Particular poignancy as a rare-surviving late-medieval building in this area, evoking the rural character that could be enjoyed here until the middle of the C19, when this part of old Essex was lost to the expanding capital.”
No timetable has yet been given for when work on the Old Spotted Dog Forest Gate restoration will begin or when it is expected to be completed.
