London’s historic Black Cap pub closes after redevelopment battle

The Black Cap pub in London’s Camden closed its doors yesterday after a battle over a proposed redevelopment which lasted several months.

Despite having successfully applied to be recognised as an asset of community value just last Wednesday, the historic caberet venue’s owners, Faucet Inn, closed the doors yesterday, 12 April, according to reports.

The Twitter page for the pub also appeared to have been taken down and Michelle Visage, of RuPaul fame, tweeted her condolences that the venue had closed.

My heart is broken for Camden. 50+ years of LGBT history lost to fatten wallets. So long #BlackCapCamden I’m honored to have been part of u

— michelle visage (@michellevisage) April 13, 2015

The pub, based in London’s Camden area was built in 1889, and is one of London’s oldest continually operating LGBT venues, after it became popular with gay men in the 1960s.

However, developers earlier this year lodged proposals that would see the first, second and third floor of the pub’s building turned into three flats – forcing the venue to downsize dramatically.

After a wave of objections to the proposals – many of them citing the pub’s unique importance to the LGBT community – plans for redevelopment were finally rejected by Camden Council’s Development Control Committee in February.

Camden Council leader Sarah Hayward attended the meeting to speak against the plan, hailing the pub as a “vital asset for a community that still sadly suffers discrimination”.

Tom Copley, a member of the London Assembly, tweeted: “Delighted that Camden’s planning committee has rejected plans to turn part of Black Cap into flats. It’s an historic venue that need protecting.”

The pub was last year declined Asset of Community Value status, because it apparently did not “meet specific criteria required.”

It is unclear why Faucett Inn has closed the Black Cap. The company did not return calls for comment from PinkNews.

Update: The website and twitter accounts for the pub have been removed, and the listings under Faucet Inn for locations no longer contains the Black Cap.