It was a York pub for 150 years. Now it is set to be demolished to make way for car rental business

It was a pub for more than 150 years, before becoming a steak house. Now it is set to be demolished to make way for a car rental chain.

The former Brew and Brisket Steak House, in Wigginton Road at the junction with Clifton Moor Gate in York, has previously been pub The Bumper Castle, an Italian restaurant named Italianissimo and the Babursie Castle restaurant.

A planning application has now been submitted to demolish the building to create a branch of Enterprise car hire in its place, complete with vehicle wash.

There are also plans for the Enterprise car club – which already offers short term car rentals at bays across the city – to be expanded using the site.

A statement says: “The proposed development seeks to provide a new site for Enterprise Rent a Car for their operation in York to provide additional capacity to meet demand in the city.

“Their current sites are located at Foss Islands and the train station and are relatively constrained and at operational capacity.

“The proposed site will provide a new site for the business to serve demand in the city and surrounding areas in a sustainable location.”

A car park will have 43 parking spaces, plus room for vans and car club vehicles.

Oldest licence holder

A heritage report says the site is marked as the Bumper Castle public house as far back as the first edition of the Ordnance Survey plan, published in 1854.

It says the site was likely developed as the Bumper Castle Inn in the mid 19th century and the building “adopts Arts and Crafts-stylistic elements”.

In A Directory Of York Pubs, Hugh Murray says the Bumper Castle was built in 1846 by William Johnson, previous landlord of The Three Cranes.

“He died c1879 and the business was continued by his widow until her death in 1907 at the age of 102, the oldest licence holder in the UK,” he wrote.

“It was rebuilt early in the 20th century after Mrs Johnson’s death.”

The application says the benefits of the new car rental scheme outweigh the harm of demolishing the vacant pub building.

It says: “The proposed development supports economic growth and employment creation and would bring a vacant site back into active use whilst visually enhancing the area through the delivery of a high quality contemporary building.”

View the application here.