Sutton Arms pub, Stockton
Pub, demolished without planning permission in Elton:
This pub only closed its doors last September, amidst the moratorium on the hospitality industry. Yet the application has argued that the building was marketed unsuccessfully and that a pub in this location is unviable. Disgracefully, the owners knocked the pub down, in hope that retrospective planning permission will be granted.
The reaction from the residents of Elton is testament to how much this institution meant. Comments have poured in, urging the council to lay down the law and demand the pub is rebuilt brick by brick. This happened in London, so why not Stockton?
A village is left bereft of a place to gather. The building is by no means ancient, having been built in 1900. Yet the half-timbered first floor, bold chimneys, and adjacent phone box create a mise en scene that worthy of every effort to retain. These places can not be found anywhere else in the world.
The Demolition Register 
I was dissapointed this pub was demolished but not surprised. Granted, the locals might protest it’s closing but the owners and landlord could quickly point out “Yes, But did they ever use it?.” To my knowledge its been uneconomic for the last 35 years, The landlord must have had another job because the earnings from it for himslef and the two previous landlords going back to 1950 never earned an income from it. Its main attraction was the United Buses bus stop outside which took you into Stockton. It was an attractive pub from the outside but inside dated and outdated. I liked the Sutton Arms, I have dozens of memories of it going back 75 years, local camped in the woods and fields nearby during WW2 to avoid bombing raids which never materialised, but to be fair it was time-to-go. It will provide sites for 10 new homes and they are more important than an old pub which no one ever visited. R WILSON, Thornaby on Tees.
Thank You for your comment, however I respectfully disagree. A pub that isn’t being used is a sign of a socially eroded community. Something has gone wrong with the local culture if people no longer feel the need to congregate in a public house. This needs addressing. Why was there a demand for a pub there in the first place? At some point the locals must have been more socially inclined. When we talk about saving pubs, its not just the building, but the public life that they inspire.
As for 10 new houses…the district is hardly lacking in brownfield land is it? Lets just hope no one in those ten new houses wonders where the nearest pub is.
Shame they couldn’t have had poker slot machines. The punters would have come from all over!