Brewery’s ambitious plan for shipping container extension at 18th century Pontefract pub

Henry Smith Brewery hopes the scheme at The Robin Hood will help establish its annual beer festival internationally.

The application includes installing three metal shipping containers plus staircases, decking and seating areas for the sale of food and drink.

The proposed site is to the east on the main building on land that is a fully-licensed communal garden area.

If approved, the company aims to install the Henry Smith Brewery International Beer Exchange.

The proposal has been been described as “a grouped modern facility of bar areas and an eatery and a well-resourced public open space for people to come together”.

The Robin Hood has traded since 1771 and has a prominent position at the junction of Wakefield Road, Ackworth Road, Southgate, Jubilee Way and Ropergate.

A heritage statement submitted to Wakefield Council says the brewery has become well established at the pub over the past five years.

More than 30 people are employed at the pub and the brewery.

The main pub building has undergone extensive refurbishment internally and externally in recent years.

The document states: “The business has grown and helped lead the way to the revitalisation of Pontefract’s town centre economy and, in part, it has been at the heart of the town’s wider and developing cultural identity, creative thinking and output.

“The Robin Hood and its brewery have taken inspiration from successful and progressive regeneration and cultural innovations of other towns and cities in England, Spain, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Belgium, Germany and France.”

The company says the proposal is similar to a development in London – The Boxpark, at Shoreditch.

The document refers to the Boxpark project as “an energetic and enterprising cultural centre.”

Plans for the extension include using it for serving international beers and hosting quarterly beer tasting seminars.

It is hoped the scheme will be a “flagship facility to present and enhance Pontrefract International Festival of Beer.”