Last hurdle for ex-fireman who spent £500K renovating 374-year-old Homes Under the Hammer pub bought on credit card

A business savvy ex-fireman who bought a derelict 17th century pub at auction on his credit card and has spent the past 15 years doing it up, faces one final hurdle before opening – which could knock him back another 46 weeks.

David Gorton, 68, from Bexley, purchased the Old Cottage Pub in Margate in 2009 for £90,000 without having ever set foot inside after an advert for the 374-year-old boozer appeared on his computer screen by chance.

He was hoping to be pouring pints within two years, but the process has taken a decade after a crumbling Victorian archway in the cellar forced him to close the footpath outside and caused serious planning issues.

During the works, David and his wife Dennise, 58, discovered a trove of historical artefacts including a stash of silver tableware stuffed up the chimney and a filled-in smugglers tunnel leading up to the nearby church.

He also found a 1658 Oliver Cromwell silver shilling under the floorboards which he believes may have been dropped by one of the pub’s early customers and is worth thousands of pounds.

David described the Grade II-listed pub as a “dog’s dinner” and said it was probably the longest project to appear on the BBC show Homes Under The Hammer after he bought it in 2009.

He has since restored the pub to its former glory and said the day he sees people inside having a “laugh and a drink”, he will probably burst into tears.

The final touches before David can finally open include getting his liquor licence and planning permission for his new sign and kitchen extractor pipe, which is being submitted for a second time at the end of the month.

“To buy a pub in those days, you’d have to be an idiot, but I thought, well, I can afford to be a bit of an idiot,” David told PA Real Life.

“If my application is approved we will be open this summer, but if they turn it down again it’s going to take me another 46 weeks to appeal.”

David’s interest in pubs started during his 24-year career in the fire service.

After suffering a work-related injury in the late 1990s, he was offered a less physically exerting role, inspecting West End pubs and restaurants’ liquor certification.

“I learned some great stuff from licensees like how the business operated and how to deal with dodgy staff pinching drinks and not putting all the money in the till,” he said.

When he retired a few years later, in 1998, David was looking for a way to supplement his pension and so bought a buy-to-let property in Sidcup for £50,000, which is now worth around £250,000.

When another property became available in the same block a year later, he was quick to snap it up, and then a third, and a fourth.

By November 2010, David had bought all nine properties in the building and built another three units on the roof after taking over the freehold.

These would provide David with the collateral needed to buy The Old Cottage Pub and carry out the renovations which have cost him £500,000.

In 2009, he was browsing the Clive Emson Auctioneers Catalogue online late one night when a random tab opened on his laptop.

“I’m about to go to bed, the computer lights up, nothing to do with me, and I’m looking at a picture of the front of the building with the lot number 49 in the corner,” he said.

“At that time, pubs were like confetti, they were dying a death and everyone was selling.”

David discovered that the car park behind the pub was going to be used for Margate’s new Turner Contemporary art gallery and figured footfall would increase dramatically.

He attended the auction which was being held in the Ramada Hotel and Resort on November 5, 2009 having never visited the pub or owned a commercial business.

“A picture came up on the screen and it looked like a dog’s dinner, it was horrendous,” said David.

“I put my hand up, everyone in the room looked at me and I thought what have I done?

“Then I phoned the bank and my legs were physically shaking.

“I had to pay 10% of the £90,000 there and then, so I phoned the bank and said can you help me out here, I’ve come down here with no money so I’m going to use the card I’ve got in my wallet to buy this pub, and there was a long silence.”

David said he decided to hold off on the renovation after being told by the council that he would have to pay £35 for every skip that entered the car park behind the pub, even if it was just for 15 minutes.

Finally, in 2014, they came to an agreement and work got under way, including moving the kitchen upstairs and installing a brewery in the cellar.

“If the planning authority give me permission to sell my beer outside the pub then I will never close the pub during the winter months,” he said.

But there were serious problems from the word go, as David’s structural engineer discovered a Victorian arch in the cellar which was crumbling and making the footpath above unsafe.

“It cost me £155,000 for a block and beam system and I totally replaced the roof of the cellar and made it 100% safe,” said David.

During the renovations, David has stumbled upon many historical artefacts including a fireplace and bread oven dating back to 1650, as well as a canon ball, six torpedo bottles and a stash of silver hidden in the chimney.

He also found a wooden beam which had been salvaged from a 17th century ship and a filled-in “smugglers tunnel” which once upon a time led towards St John’s Church, about a quarter of a mile away.

“It means that beam was probably sailing the high seas for at least 80 to 100 years before 1650, so it’s absolutely precious,” said David.

David is hoping to open the pub, which he has renamed “Gorton’s” in honour of his late father, Bob Gorton, who served as Detective Chief Inspector in the Metropolitan Police, later this year.

But he is still waiting on one last piece of the puzzle: planning permission from Thanet District Council for the kitchen extractor vent and his new pub sign which was originally denied for being too low.

“It’s just been a really long slog,” said David.

“It’s not about the money.

“I don’t care if there’s only six people in the window when I walk past at night, enjoying themselves, laughing with a glass of drink in their hand.

“It will be the most wonderful moment I can imagine.”