Family pub staff not bitter after wall made out of traditional West Country building material causes it to COLLAPSE after a deluge of rain

• The Ship Inn at Cockwood is said to have collapsed at 11:30am today after rain

The wall of a local pub in Devon has collapsed following heavy rain last night – forcing the family-run business to temporarily shut. 

The Ship Inn at Cockwood, near Dawlish, is said to have part-collapsed at around 11.30am this morning. 

The building is made from a traditional West Country building material called cob, which is a combination of straw and mud.

Partner at the pub Anna Brown said the collapse was ‘shocking’, adding that the family intend for the pub to reopen as soon as possible. 

She said: ‘It feels horrendous, this is our family pub, this is our business.

The Ship Inn at Cockwood (pictured), near Dawlish, is said to have part-collapsed at around 11:30am on Sunday following a night of heavy rain 

The building is made from a traditional West Country building material called cob, which is a combination of straw and mud

What is cob? 

Cob is a traditional West Country building material made from a mixture of straw and mud. 

In the Wessex region the traditional cob is made of chalk, with or without the addition of straw. 

Cob has been used on buildings for many centuries – with some accounts of the material dating back to prehistoric times. 

‘We’ve been here since 2007, this is our family pub and the wall, basically, at about 11.30 this morning, the wall behind the the bar fell out, fell down in towards the garden.’

The partner claimed the collapsed cob wall has been surveyed on multiple occasions but the owners were ‘never told it was dangerous’, the BBC reported. 

The pub chef’s lounge was torn to pieces in the collapse as he lives upstairs in the building. 

Mrs Brown said: ‘We are quite shocked. This is a family place, if we thought there was any imminent danger we would not have kept the pub open.’ 

The family said they were assured the wall could be repaired. 

Photographs show the shocking damage done to the building, with dust and debris lying on the ground outside and a huge hole tearing through the side of the property. 

Wood and furniture can be seen hanging out the pub while a ‘The Ship Inn’ sign has fallen from the building’s wall.   

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