Concerns 300 years of Sevenoaks history could be ‘erased’ if new flats isn’t named after former hotel

Councillors in Kent want the name of a hotel converted into six flats to be reinstated, saying otherwise 300 years of the town’s history would be erased.

The Royal Oak Hotel in the High Street in Sevenoaks is a “prominent and historic feature of the town”, named Royal Oak as far back as 1775, said Sevenoaks Town Council. But the district council, in its full statement, explained the reasons behind rejecting the name, including for post delivery and emergency services’ response.

It said the Royal Oak Hotel was an important “landmark and reminder of the town’s heritage”. Councillors were “surprised and deeply disappointed” on learning the flats would be called Flats 1-6, Hanover House, thus “erasing over 300 years of the town’s history”.

According to Sevenoaks History Hub, the hotel was a “grand and important building” in the heart of the town and was once known as The Black Bull.

Built in the 18th century as a coaching inn, Queen Victoria once stayed there during her visit to Knole, opposite. During the 1980s, one person who worked there said it was “always busy, with the bar and restaurant always popular”.

Strangely, the hotel’s website is still live, and it says it had 41 rooms, and was just 250m from the Church of Saint Nicholas. As we reported in February, 2022, there were concerns about the site, which stood empty and boarded up, its brick and plasterwork tatty. The Grade II-listed building was sold in 2015 for £2.65million, and was for sale again in 2023.

The council has fired off a letter to Sevenoaks District Council, the local planning authority, to urge reconsideration of the new name and for Royal Oak to be “reinstated”.

In a statement, the council said: “Councillors remain unsatisfied with the justification provided by the District Council as to why the name has been lost – the summary of which is that the adjacent location of properties which are similarly named “Royal Oak Mews” and “Royal Oak House, 5 High Street” could cause confusion and delays to deliveries and emergency services.

“Given the origins of the moniker having derived from the Royal Oak Hotel however, with the adjacent properties having been named in deference to its historic significance, the Town Councillors remain determined to contest the loss and pursue its reinstatement.”

The town council listed the reasons given by Sevenoaks District Council for why “Royal Oak” was not suitable.

• The developer’s first choice was to incorporate ‘Royal Oak’ as part of the building name. We (Sevenoaks District Council) were not able to accommodate this request for the reasons set out below.

• The use of the name ‘Royal Oak’ could not be used as the adjoining property incorporates the name ‘Royal Oak’. Therefore using this name would have breached section 11.4 of our policy.

• From SNN Policy 2021: 11.4. Suggested names will not be accepted if they are difficult to pronounce, or if they are similar to the name of another property, building or street name in the surrounding area, which would cause confusion. For example, duplicated house names on the same road, or within the same postcode sector, will not be permitted. A postcode sector is identified by the first five characters of a postcode e.g. TN13 3**.

• In this specific instance there were concerns that ‘Royal Oak House, 5 High Street’ could cause confusion with ‘5 Royal Oak ‘something’, High Street’.
• The intention is not to perpetuate addressing/addresses which would not be accepted under current addressing standards. We take our role of ensuring the safety and welfare of our residents (from an addressing perspective) very seriously and will not implement addresses that could potentially lead to the delay of a resident receiving aid or assistance from the emergency services. Obviously deliveries and mail play a significant part, which is why Royal Mail are consulted on all address changes, as well as Kent Fire and Rescue on any major developments from a blue light perspective.”

KentLive has contacted developer Mopdev Ltd for comment.

A spokesman for Sevenoaks District Council said: “With new housing developments, the owners are invited to put forward their preferred names. The owner’s initial name included ‘Royal Oak’ for the former hotel and new building to the rear. However, the neighbouring property is already called ‘Royal Oak House’.

“While we acknowledge the historical significance of the site, current national naming standards advise against giving properties in such close proximity the same name. This could cause problems for the emergency services, the Royal Mail and other delivery companies.”

“The owner came back with the alternative name of ‘Hanover House’, as Queen Victoria (the last monarch of the House of Hanover) once stayed at the hotel. The name was accepted by the council. The owner can ask to change the name of the development.”

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