REGULARS reacted with surprise to news that their Eldene pub had been listed by heritage chiefs.

The Crumpled Horn pub, near the Eldene Community Centre, has been given a Grade II listing by Historic England.

The government’s heritage watchdog said the pub had been put forward in recognition of its cultural importance. Built in 1975 to designs by Roy Wilson-Smith, the eight-sided Crumpled Horn was inspired by nursery rhyme This is the House that Jack Built.

But the listing came as a surprise to landlady Jane Scott, 51: “Somebody messaged me earlier on and I didn’t understand. I woke up to it. I just thought, ‘No’. I was half asleep.

“I was happy about it. We’ve worked really hard here. We really have tried. There’s been tears, there’s been everything.”

The new Grade II listing will mean that Jane and partner Graham Cheaps will need listed building consent in order to carry out any building works that could affect the special architectural or historical interest of the pub.

The Crumpled Horn was one of five post-war pubs added to the historic buildings list yesterday. Historic England chief executive Duncan Wilson said: "Pubs were springing up in their thousands from the mid-1950s and became the hub of communities. From the Crumpled Horn to the Never Turn Back, these five fascinating post-war pubs are among the best surviving examples of a building type which is embedded in English culture."

Since taking the pub over a year ago, Jane and Graham have spent time renovating the post-war local: “We’ve cleaned it up, decorated, put a few plants everywhere. The garden was the biggest thing. I was waiting to fence that garden in.

“We had to win the community round. This pub has been taken on by so many different people and there hasn’t been any care in it.

“We want this to be a community pub, with families. Bring your dog, bring your kids, sit outside and have a barbecue.

“Now, we’re trying to raise money to have a kids’ play area out there.”

After running pubs away from Swindon, Walcot-born Jane was keen to return to her home town: “My girls live down the road and we were out of Swindon a lot running pubs. That was the reason for taking it over. I wanted to be near them and my mum.

“This pub’s quite quirky. It was something I wanted: a challenge. And by god it’s been a hell of a challenge."

She said that the pub had a friendly atmosphere: “One thing we do not tolerate is nastiness. If new people come in we approach them. They get involved in the conversation. A lot of pubs you go in, if they don’t know you it’s kind of alienating. It’s not like that here. It’s a good pub.”

What to the heritage chiefs say about the Crumpled Horn?

Historic England said: "The Crumpled Horn is an estate pub, commissioned by the brewery Watney Mann as a Wessex Taverns house and designed by Roy Wilson-Smith, which opened in December 1975. Wilson-Smith was an advocate of 'themed' pubs, designing several pubs of this type for Watney Mann.

"The Crumpled Horn is the only survivor of a group of Watney Mann pubs designed around the theme of the nursery rhyme This is the House that Jack Built. Almost unaltered, it is a good example of Wilson-Smith's innovative and eccentric style.

"In common with all the pubs he designed, it illustrates his interest in multi-level plans. Built as an irregular eight-sided polygon on a sloping site, the pub contains a single bar area which takes the unusual plan form of a spiralling nautilus shell. The shape creates intimate drinking spaces on different levels, as well as reflecting the horn of pub's name - a quotation from This is the House that Jack Built."

And what do the regulars think?

When we visited for a pint yesterday lunchtime, Crumpled Horn regulars described it as a friendly community pub.

Famous face Swindon Town Dave, 57, who has been drinking in the Eldene boozer for two decades, said: “I love it. It’s a lovely, friendly place. It’s a great community pub.”

Friend Mark, 57, of Walcot, said: “It’s still a traditional community local. You come in, everyone chats and you have a laugh.”

Asked how he felt about the new heritage listing, he joked: “It’s been listing for a long time.”

One man in for a lunchtime pint said he had worked on the original building. The roofer, who did not give his name, said: “It was fairly awkward standing on the roof while trying to do the felting.”