A planning application has been submitted by a developer for the demolition of the historic Railway Bell pub and outbuildings at 14 Cawnpore Street, Gipsy Hill SE19 (the pub frontage is to be retained), and the construction of a block of flats with nine 1 bedroom apartments spread over three floors.

The Friends of the Railway Bell are campaigning to save the pub and against the planned redevelopment, and are currently considering options such as an application for designation as an Asset of Community Value.

There has been a pub on this site in Gipsy Hill since around 1865. Youngs & Co, the former brewers, bought the pub in 1885 and built the current two-storied “cottage style” building in 1892. The building is on the Lambeth Council Local Heritage List due to its architectural and historic merit. After Youngs stopped brewing, the pub was sold on to Punch Taverns who closed it and put it on the market in the summer of 2023.

The Friends of the Railway Bell can be contacted via the Save the Railway Bell WhatsApp group – which welcomes anyone opposed to the plans.

Comments on the application (ref. no: 26/00528/FUL) should be submitted on the Lambeth Planning Portal by the closing date of 11 April 2026.