The New Murrey and Blue blog

I have to say that whenever I see a quaint old house that seems to lean rather alarmingly, I am always charmed. They looked so….endearing. Whether they are endearing to maintain is another matter, of course, but I’m only looking at them.

Well, if you go to this link https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/historic-places/britains-wonkiest-houses you’ll find a selection of five such properties, all slightly on the tipsy side. It was this link that led to me writing this post.

I’ve written about the Crooked House in Lavenham before https://murreyandblue.org/2022/10/24/there-was-a-crooked-man-who-lived-in-a-crooked-house/ (see image above).

And I know I’ve written about the demise of the Crooked House pub near Dudley in, Staffordshire, but I simply cannot find my link now. However, you can read about its sad fate here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-68414524. Now it seems the culprits have put forward a proposal to rebuild the Crooked House elsewhere, so watch this space. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cxx8wpgnk78o

Honestly, I cannot understand the mentality of those who can do this to much loved landmarks. What happened to the Crooked House pub was an outrage that shocked the world, as you can see if you simply do a search for it. This old pub was famous and people came from all over to see it….yet some clods thought they were clever to burn it down and then flatten it! I put this on a level with the murder of the wonderful old sycamore tree on Hadrian’s Wall. (https://murreyandblue.org/2024/10/10/theres-life-in-the-old-sycamore-girl-yet/)

Another house (not included in the list of five) I’ve written about, and for which I can find the link is Blagraves in Castle Barnard. (https://murreyandblue.org/2024/10/12/for-sale-a-house-in-castle-barnard-that-was-part-of-estate-owned-by-richard-iii/) I don’t know whether it’s wonky as such, but to me it looks as its upper storey is being squeezed by its neighbours. Or is it simply the perspective?

Here is a link (https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-asymmetrical-charm-of-crooked-houses) about a number of crooked buildings, not all in Britain. There’s a rather alarming church in Germany and a house in Amsterdam. Actually, a number of houses in Amsterdam if you look here https://uk.style.yahoo.com/worlds-most-crooked-buildings-beyond-170000620.html. That last link contains quite a few wonky buildings, including, of course, the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

I can’t say I’ve visited many of these astonishing buildings. I’ve seen the wonky buildings of Amsterdam, and Lavenham, Tewkesbury and the church in Chesterfield (which doesn’t get a mention anywhere!) but my favourite of all was Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire.(https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cheshire-greater-manchester/little-moreton-hall/history-of-little-moreton-hall) I felt a compelling urge to steady myself when I was in the gallery! Quite unnerving.