The Angel closed in 2019 after various campaigns to keep it open and try to work with the owners to preserve the pub for the village. Even when it closed, it was a viable pub, much smaller than it had previously been but still a lively focal point for the village.
The owners have tried to get change of use for the property to residential, presumably as they believe it will enhance the value they get when they sell the property. A new planning application was submitted in 2024 and has been taken to planning appeal.
We want the community to own the property to protect it from change of use, and reopen it as a pub but not just a pub – with community ownership comes a wider responsibility to provide community space that has been identified as a need in our village and surrounding area.
We have formed Debenham Angel Community Ltd, a Community Benefit Society regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We have a clear and practical plan to raise funds through a share offer to local people, grants from public bodies and potential loans if needed. With these funds we will buy the property, refurbish and equip it, engage an enthusiastic and experienced tenant to run the business and turn the pub into a commercial and community success.
In the heart of the village, we want as many people as possible to be proud of what we can achieve when we all pull together. It will take money, time and the many skills that have been offered to restore the property. This is not just saving a property for the sake of it. The pub was viable when it was forced to close. It can be viable again – profitable both from a financial perspective and a social capital one.
This is not just about the long running campaign to ‘Save The Angel’. This is about the current circumstances, the right time for a fund raising campaign for community ownership and the future – looking forward to what could be a ‘new’ Angel for the village.