Update on The Bell
We would like to provide an update on the project to restore and reopen The Bell.
John Rogers of The Globe has decided that he will not be proceed...
The Bell closed in the summer of 2023 with the owners citing commercial unviability as the main reason.
The owners had several tenants over the previous 15 years or so, but with limited commercial success.The pub was put on the market at £595,000.
Shortly after the closure, the Save the Bell campaign was started in the village and much work was undertaken, investigating possible, grants, loans and so on. The main focus was the establishment of a Community Benefit Society (CBS) which would hopefully raise the money to buy the pub. Many options for how the pub would operate were discussed.
The CBS (The Bell Inn Iden Community Limited) was registered on 27th February 2024, with 4 founding members. The current membership of the CBS is 116, is made up of all the CBS shareholders. The initial plan was for the CBS to protect the future of The Bell by raising the funds to buy the freehold. At the time, the best mechanism to achieve this was seen to be through the Community Ownership Fund (COF) – which could have provided up to £250,000 of government match funding. The work involved in completing the paperwork for the COF application took a lot of time and effort from the CBS team.
The COF was a scheme administered by the last government’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. When the general election was announced in May 2024, the Community Ownership Fund was frozen, after the election the new government terminated the scheme. At the same time, the Bell owners, who had received no offers near to £595K, applied for “Change of Use” to residential – if granted this would probably have resulted in the loss of the pub forever.
Iden got behind a campaign to object to the Change of Use and there were over 180 individual objections submitted to Rother District Council Planning Department. At the same time the CBS was talking to various local publicans to see whether they would be interested in running The Bell. One of the possibilities identified was John Rogers of The Globe. John’s involvement, the objections to the Change of Use and the very generous underwriting of a significant amount from local farmer Christopher Strangeways really helped with negotiations and resulted in the owners being prepared to sell The Bell for £425K. An agreement was discussed whereby the CBS and Christopher Strangeways would buy the freehold and John Rogers would be responsible for refurbishment (at cost of around £450K according to 2025 figures) – in exchange for a 20-year lease and the option to buy the freehold from us at £425K during the first 5 years of his lease.
A Community Share offer was launched in January 2026 and by the middle of February had raised nearly £300k from 116 shareholders – with another £25k in donations coming in to cover admin costs. With Christopher Strangeways’ support, on 12th March, the purchase of The Bell was completed.
Unfortunately, in May 2026 John Rogers concluded that he could not take the risk of financing the refurbishment and withdrew from the deal – although he did continue with his planning application, which was approved.
The CBS Board has been looking at options. They have gone back to Sidney Phillips (an agent who specialises in pub sales and leases) and have revisited the list of local (and not so local) publicans who might be interested in running The Bell.
As a result, they are in advanced discussions with Tim and Claudia Brown who own The Standard in Rye. Other possibilities are also being pursued, but Tim and Claudia have developed an excellent business plan and are extremely serious about making this happen. The CBS (and therefore the village of Iden) would retain the ownership.
This does however mean that the CBS will need to finance the restoration, and refurbishment of The Bell.
There is no escaping that this will involve raising a lot of money to restore and reopen The Bell. How much is unclear. A building survey from 2024 lists over £50,000 of urgent repairs, together with a list of supplementary works and maintenance issues. Compliance with fire regulations, accessibility and structural work to make the building fit for purpose will bring the total close to £300,000 – precisely how much is difficult to assess at this stage.
There is a wide range of options available to raise the money. The plan is to split the project into two stages:
The first stage will be to restore and modernise the shell of the building. This is the responsibility of the CBS. There will be a grant application to The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The maximum amount that can be applied for is £250,000. The application and decision process will take approximately 4 months.
There are also other grant giving bodies as well as the possibility of taking out a private loan to fund the work. Once the building work is complete the shell of the pub will be fully restored and modernised, without a kitchen, cellar or any of the fittings required to run a public house.
The second, commercial stage, is to fit out and reopen The Bell. To achieve this, an operating company will be formed.
One option for the company to raise money would be through a government Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). The maximum that can be raised through an SEIS is £250,000. Forming the company, developing the investor proposal, business plan and applying for SEIS Advance Approval will also take approximately 4 months.
First however, we have to finalise the design alterations to the building and cost the project.
© The Bell Inn Iden Community Limited 2025. All Rights Reserved. By Olli Hopkins