Historic Westgate pub Henry Boons up for sale

The traditional alehouse is a popular stop on the city’s famous Westgate Run pub crawl.

It has been in the same ownership for 40 years and is being sold by commercial property agents Sanderson Weatherall.

Historically called The George and Dragon, the pub was renamed The Green Dragon in the 1820s and became Henry Boons in 1983.

It takes its name from Henry Boon Clark, founder of HB Clark brewery, which was situated next to the pub.

The sale includes the main bar area at ground floor level with function space and a three-bedroom manager’s flat to the first floor.

The property also includes ‘Boons Yard’, featuring a catering kitchen with its own entrance off Parliament Street.

The property is situated on the fringe of the Upper Westgate Heritage Action Zone, a partnership between Wakefield Council and Historic England.

The area has seen investment in the region of £4m in the regeneration of buildings in the Upper Westgate Conservation Area.

This also includes the proposed redevelopment of the old Westgate Station site for a commercial scheme incorporating a 120 bed hotel.

Neil Bestwick, partner at Sanderson Weatherall, said: “Henry Boons is one of the best known pubs in the Wakefield area and its availability is expected to generate healthy levels of interest.

“It benefits from a prominent trading position at one of the main routes into the city centre and the transformative proposals for the neighbouring Upper Westgate area are advantageous for continued licensed/leisure uses or possibly repurposing the property for alternative uses”.

HB Clark brewery has been in existence since 1905.

Henry Boon Clark originally hailed from Hertfordshire.

He began brewing in Kent, staying in the south for most of his life before settling in Yorkshire at the age of 60.

Beer making ceased on the site in 1960.

It restarted again in 1982 after a new brew house opened within the original brewery.

The company moved to a new purpose-built warehouse in Stanley last year.

Barnsley-based JW Boylin Group took over the former brewery last July, promising to breathe new life into the site by turning it into a mixed business centre, small units or workshops and office space.