Sale of the Dee Hotel is abandoned

Grange Road, in West Kirby
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The Dee Hotel in West Kirby is no longer up for sale and will instead get a makeover next month.

The historic pub was one of a number of sites across the country put up for sale in March 2019 by owner JD Wetherspoon, with a price tag of £700,000.

It was under offer before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, but the sale subsequently fell through.

Now the company has confirmed that it has been taken off the market and a new manager has been appointed.

The pub will also close from 7 – 21 June for refurbishment.

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon told West Kirby Today: “A new manager has been installed [and] Wetherspoon will be undertaking some development work at the site.”

It is the second time a proposed sell-off has failed to come to fruition.

The pub was previously placed on the market in November 2015, but the plan was abandoned in March 2017 following a change of heart by company management.

Images capturing the history of the Dee Hotel, on the wall of the pub

History of the Dee Hotel

  • The pub was built around a century ago on the site of a group of houses called Dee Bank. A pair of cottages, known as Yew Tree House and Yew Tree Cottage, stood opposite.
  • Last privately owned in 1935, the Dee Hotel was sold to Walker & Sons of Warrington, who also bought the next-door stationery shop. The Hotel re-opened a few years later, having been extended and given a Tudor-style façade.
  • Its name recalls the nearby river, recorded c150AD as Deoua, an ancient British word, meaning ‘goddess’. The Romans called it Deva, and used the name for their legionary fortress at Chester.
  • JD Wetherspoon applied for planning permission to turn the upper floors into a 16 bedroom hotel back in 2015, but the scheme was never progressed.