Welcome to the campaign to save the 400-year old Cabinet
pub in the village of Reed in Hertfordshire.
*** Read our Frequently Asked Questions section below. ***
The Cabinet is a Grade II listed building, the last pub in the village, and is believed to be the only pub in the country bearing the name. It has served the residents of Reed and the surrounding area as a pub for some 400 years. To the horror of the local community, the present owner turned The Cabinet into a house without planning permission or listed building consent, only applying for these retrospectively. The Save the Cabinet Action Group has been leading the fight to resist these applications and restore The Cabinet to its proper place as a beautiful village pub at the heart of the local community. Permission for change of use was definitively refused following a planning appeal heard as a Public Inquiry in 2018. An enforcement notice requiring that the building should stop being used as a private residence is due to come into force in early August 2020. Unfortunately the owner continued to ignore the requirements of planning law. In 2019 he applied for permission to subdivide the pub, only opening a small part of it as a pub and treating the majority as his residence. This was refused - but during the lockdown caused by the 2020 pandemic he subdivided the building anyway, opening a small part of it as a small “bar, restaurant and takeaway” under the name “The Spice Cabinet”. In parallel with these developments, in mid 2022 the then owner of the site was jailed for serious sex offenders committed in 2017 and sent to prison. Listed building consent was finally refused in 2022, and enforcement notices issued. Appeals against these have been pending for nearly 3 years. In October 2024 The Spice Cabinet closed. In December 2024 a notification was given that the Cabinet site was for sale. In summer 2025 an Italian restaurant opened on the site, against the background that The Cabinet was to be sold at auction. After several postponements the site failed to sell during auction in December 2025. It was, however, sold privately shortly afterwards, and the sale was completed in March 2026. Meanwhile the Italian restaurant closed. In early 2026 we learned that the new owner intends to renovate the site and bring it back into use as a village pub. Read more about the planning history here. The Action Group has been leading the fight to save The Cabinet as pub since 2016.Frequently asked questions
Q: Didn’t the pub close because it wasn’t sufficiently supported? A: No. It closed because of the theft of a substantial amount of money from the takings, meaning the bills could not be paid. The publican tried to continue but, in the end, had to accept reality and became bankrupt. He tells us that had it not been for that incident there’s no reason why the pub should not still be trading today. Q: Surely the pub could never be viable in today’s climate? Rural pubs struggle these days. A: We have demonstrated to the satisfaction of a planning inspector at a three-day Public Inquiry on the basis of cogent evidence that The Cabinet could indeed be viable. Other village pubs in this area are very successful and there is every reason to suppose that The Cabinet, with its substantial support base, could be too. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government was sufficiently satisfied on the basis of a business plan that The Cabinet could be viable that it granted the local Parish Council authority to take out a loan from the government to buy the pub. Unfortunately, the Parish Council’s offer was turned down by the owner. Q: Isn’t the pub open again? A: A small “bar, restaurant and takeaway”, and later an Italian restaurant, was been opened in a small part of the building while the main, two storey, section was used as a private residence. The problem with this arrangement is that it splits the building in two, putting the majority of the former trading area into residential use – a change which requires planning and listed building consent which has been refused - and increasing the likelihood that the pub as a whole will be lost forever. A small “bar, restaurant and takeaway” does not perform the same function within a community as a village pub. Q: You just don’t want an Indian/Italian restaurant in your village. A: We would welcome an Indian, or any other suitable type of restaurant as part of a fully reopened pub. Q: Despite efforts by the owner to sell, nobody wants to buy The Cabinet. A: Not true. We know that generous offers to buy the freehold have been made but refused by the owner, who was asking an unrealistically high price. He also turned down an offer by Reed Parish Council. Established operators have also enquired about leasing the premises to open the whole of them as a pub, but they too have been rebuffed. The previous owners, too, rebuffed credible expressions of interest in buying or leasing the pub, instead selling it by auction at a price significantly greater than its value as a pub. Q: You’re just complaining because changes that you don’t like have been made by the landlord. A: We are complaining because the owner – a property developer – turned the much-loved Cabinet into a house without planning permission or listed building consent, depriving the village of an important community asset. Planning permission has since been definitively refused following an appeal heard at a Public Inquiry. Splitting off part of the building for use as restaurant and takeaway also needs planning permission. A previous application to subdivide the premises was refused last year but the owner has gone ahead regardless. There is also evidence that some of the changes made to the fabric of the building could cause long-term damage if not rectified. *New server
© Save the Cabinet Action Group 2026
SAVE OUR VILLAGE PUB!
LATEST NEWS
Cabinet to be renovated and brought back into use as a village pub Click here to read more
The Save the Cabinet
Action Group
The Action Group was founded in September 2016. Its aim is to preserve The Cabinet, the last pub in the village of Reed in Hertfordshire. It has led the resistance to the various planning applications and the appeal.
Print your own poster
to show your support
Click on the image to download a copy.
Welcome to the campaign to save
the 400-year old Cabinet pub in the
village of Reed in Hertfordshire.
*** Read our Frequently Asked Questions section
below. ***
The Cabinet is a Grade II listed building, the last pub in the village, and is believed to be the only pub in the country bearing the name. It has served the residents of Reed and the surrounding area as a pub for some 400 years. To the horror of the local community, the present owner turned The Cabinet into a house without planning permission or listed building consent, only applying for these retrospectively. The Save the Cabinet Action Group has been leading the fight to resist these applications and restore The Cabinet to its proper place as a beautiful village pub at the heart of the local community. Permission for change of use was definitively refused following a planning appeal heard as a Public Inquiry in 2018. An enforcement notice requiring that the building should stop being used as a private residence is due to come into force in early August 2020. Unfortunately the owner continued to ignore the requirements of planning law. In 2019 he applied for permission to subdivide the pub, only opening a small part of it as a pub and treating the majority as his residence. This was refused - but during the lockdown caused by the 2020 pandemic he subdivided the building anyway, opening a small part of it as a small “bar, restaurant and takeaway” under the name “The Spice Cabinet”. In parallel with these developments, in mid 2022 the then owner of the site was jailed for serious sex offenders committed in 2017 and sent to prison. Listed building consent was finally refused in 2022, and enforcement notices issued. Appeals against these have been pending for nearly 3 years. In October 2024 The Spice Cabinet closed. In December 2024 a notification was given that the Cabinet site was for sale. In summer 2025 an Italian restaurant opened on the site, against the background that The Cabinet was to be sold at auction. After several postponements the site failed to sell during auction in December 2025. It was, however, sold privately shortly afterwards, and the sale was completed in March 2026. Meanwhile the Italian restaurant closed. In early 2026 we learned that the new owner intends to renovate the site and bring it back into use as a village pub. Read more about the planning history here. The Action Group has been leading the fight to save The Cabinet as pub since 2016.Frequently asked questions
Q: Didn’t the pub close because it wasn’t sufficiently supported? A: No. It closed because of the theft of a substantial amount of money from the takings, meaning the bills could not be paid. The publican tried to continue but, in the end, had to accept reality and became bankrupt. He tells us that had it not been for that incident there’s no reason why the pub should not still be trading today. Q: Surely the pub could never be viable in today’s climate? Rural pubs struggle these days. A: We have demonstrated to the satisfaction of a planning inspector at a three-day Public Inquiry on the basis of cogent evidence that The Cabinet could indeed be viable. Other village pubs in this area are very successful and there is every reason to suppose that The Cabinet, with its substantial support base, could be too. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government was sufficiently satisfied on the basis of a business plan that The Cabinet could be viable that it granted the local Parish Council authority to take out a loan from the government to buy the pub. Unfortunately, the Parish Council’s offer was turned down by the owner. Q: Isn’t the pub open again? A: A small “bar, restaurant and takeaway”, and later an Italian restaurant, was been opened in a small part of the building while the main, two storey, section was used as a private residence. The problem with this arrangement is that it splits the building in two, putting the majority of the former trading area into residential use – a change which requires planning and listed building consent which has been refused - and increasing the likelihood that the pub as a whole will be lost forever. A small “bar, restaurant and takeaway” does not perform the same function within a community as a village pub. Q: You just don’t want an Indian/Italian restaurant in your village. A: We would welcome an Indian, or any other suitable type of restaurant as part of a fully reopened pub. Q: Despite efforts by the owner to sell, nobody wants to buy The Cabinet. A: Not true. We know that generous offers to buy the freehold have been made but refused by the owner, who was asking an unrealistically high price. He also turned down an offer by Reed Parish Council. Established operators have also enquired about leasing the premises to open the whole of them as a pub, but they too have been rebuffed. The previous owners, too, rebuffed credible expressions of interest in buying or leasing the pub, instead selling it by auction at a price significantly greater than its value as a pub. Q: You’re just complaining because changes that you don’t like have been made by the landlord. A: We are complaining because the owner – a property developer – turned the much-loved Cabinet into a house without planning permission or listed building consent, depriving the village of an important community asset. Planning permission has since been definitively refused following an appeal heard at a Public Inquiry. Splitting off part of the building for use as restaurant and takeaway also needs planning permission. A previous application to subdivide the premises was refused last year but the owner has gone ahead regardless. There is also evidence that some of the changes made to the fabric of the building could cause long-term damage if not rectified. *New serverSAVE OUR VILLAGE PUB!
© Save the Cabinet Action Group 2025
The Save the Cabinet
Action Group
The Action Group was founded in September 2016. Its aim is to preserve The Cabinet, the last pub in the village of Reed in Hertfordshire. It has led the resistance to the various planning applications and the appeal.Follow us on Facebook
and Twitter
Print your own poster to
show your support
Click on the image to download a copy.
