Save Our Sun
The campaign for a community pub in the Cumbrian village of Dent
£280,000 PLEDGED SO FAR | PLEASE PLEDGE HERE
We want to buy our historic inn by selling shares in it.
As a Community Benefit Society all profits will go
back to the business and to local causes
OUR STORY
THE residents of Dent are campaigning to buy the historic Sun Inn which lies on a cobbled street at the heart of our Cumbrian village.
The Sun has been up for sale for £500,000 and faces an uncertain future so we want to secure it for our community.
We have been pledged £280,000 from our wonderful supporters at home and around the world who want to be shareholders. We were hoping for the rest of the money to come from a national grant but this scheme has been shelved by the government.
Undeterred, we are looking for other sources of revenue and are heartened by a new government Right To Buy scheme aimed at 'Assets of Community Value'. This will give powers to communities to acquire buildings for 'social well-being'.
OUR PLANS
WE'VE set up Dent Community Pub Ltd, a Community Benefit Society (see rules) and hope to buy it through the sale of shares.
More contributions to our campaign will bring forward plans for refurbishment to the pub so please express your interest through our Share Pledge.​
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See our FAQs page for queries or write to saveoursun2024@gmail.com.
OUR HISTORY
​​THE Sun is at the heart of Dentdale on the Yorkshire-Cumbria border and has been bringing our community together and welcoming visitors since the 16th Century.
The earliest recorded inn-keeper in Dent is Richard Hodgson, ‘common brewer’ in 1523, in the reign of Henry VIII. By a deed dated 3 March 1758 ‘a Brewhouse and Inn’ were sold by William Metcalfe (a common name in these parts) to John Ridding, who in 1780 bequeathed to his son-in-law Richard Haygarth (there's a few of them as well).
It reads: ‘...all the dwelling house and Public Inn, situate, standing and being on the west side of the street leading through the said Town [Dent], called and commonly known by the name and Sign of the Sunn, together with yard, backside, stable and garden’.