The Crooked House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Crooked House |
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The Crooked House
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| Former names | Siden House, Glynne Arms |
| General information | |
| Type | Pub |
| Address | The Crooked House Coppice Mill off Himley Road Himley Dudley South Staffordshire DY3 4DA |
| Coordinates | 52°30′54″N 2°09′07″W / 52.515°N 2.152°W |
| Completed | 1765 |
| Opened | c. 1830 (as pub) |
| Owner | Crooked House (Himley) Limited |
| Landlord | Wayne and Jason Penn |
The Crooked House is a famous pub and restaurant located in South Staffordshire, England. It is well-known for its very unusual, leaning shape.
This unique appearance is because of mining that happened a long time ago. The ground under the building slowly sank, causing one side to drop. Now, one part of the building is about 4 feet (1.2 meters) lower than the other!
You can find The Crooked House in a quiet spot near Himley. It's just off the B4176 road, which connects Dudley and Telford. Even though the road leading to it is in the West Midlands, the pub itself is just north of the border in Staffordshire.
The Crooked House: A Leaning Landmark
The Crooked House was first built in 1765. Back then, it was a normal farmhouse. But in the early 1800s, coal mining started nearby. This mining caused the ground to sink, and the building began to lean.
Around 1830, the farmhouse became a public house. It was first called the Siden House. In the local Black Country dialect, "siden" means "crooked" or "lopsided." Later, it was renamed the Glynne Arms. This new name honored Sir Stephen Glynne, who owned the land.
In the 1940s, the building was thought to be unsafe. It was even planned to be torn down! But a company called Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries bought the pub. They saved it by adding strong supports called buttresses and girders. These supports made the building safe, but they kept its famous lopsided look.
Fun Optical Illusions
Because the walls of The Crooked House are so slanted, they create some cool optical illusions. It's a bit like a gravity hill, where things seem to roll uphill.
For example, if you put a glass on a table that looks flat, it might slowly slide away! You can also watch a marble seem to roll uphill all by itself. These tricks happen because your eyes expect things to be straight, but the building is anything but!
