Gwynedd Council intends to demolish the Grade II listed Tywyn hotel that John Lennon once stayed in.

Today, Cyngor Gwynedd County Council announced it has applied to demolish the cherished hotel after the rear of the building collapsed last month.

The iconic Georgian building has been left seemingly abandoned for years following the death of the owner in 2012.

The council was forced to undertake emergency action including a partial road closure, fencing and continued monitoring to keep the public safe after partial collapses to the structure in January and February this year.

After issuing eight different notices in recent years for ‘dangerous buildings’ and three more for ‘ruinous and dilapidated buildings’ with no apparent action from the inherited owners, the council’s project group for the hotel has now applied for demolition consent.

The view of the Corbet Arms from the back
The view of the Corbet Arms from the back (Cyngor Gwynedd)

Gareth Jones, Assistant Head of Cyngor Gwynedd Environment Department, said: “Our objective has been to preserve this building which is an important part of the town’s history, and bring the building back into use.

“Ensuring that a building is maintained to the required standard is the responsibility of the owner.

“The council has had to carefully consider the risk to public safety and the building’s Grade II listed status.

“This decision to submit a listed building consent for demolition work and putting plans in place to undertake the emergency demolition work has not been taken lightly.

“We understand the significance of this historic building and concerns of the community.

“However, the condition of the building has deteriorated to a point where immediate action is now required to protect public health and safety, and sadly there is no other option.”

Another rear view showing the partial collapse of two bedrooms
Another rear view showing the partial collapse of two bedrooms (Cyngor Gwynedd)

There had been action from the community in recent years to save the building, including a petition in 2020 amassing 1,816 signatures calling on the council to purchase the hotel - the council having already spent £150,000 making the building safe.

Gwynedd Councillor for Morfa Tywyn, John Pughe, described the building as “in a really bad state”, with bowing walls, cracks, falling window frames, a collapsed stairwell, and “full of pigeons and rats” - having called on the council for years to issue a complulsory purchase order to save the building, to no avail.

However it was once a grand hotel in which Beatles’ John Lennon and Yoko Ono stayed in 1969 with their children.

Part of the Corbet family estate who made their imprint on the area - draining the salt marsh between Tywyn and the Afron Dysynni - the Corbet Arms was bought by an unrelated John Corbett in 1878 whose money helped to build Tywyn’s promenade, water and sewerage system, and the Assembly Room which is now the Magic Lantern Cinema.

Councillor Pughe said: “Three or four years ago, two people were willing to buy the Corbett Arms.

“One was a man from Shropshire who ran another Corbett hotel - probate was the problem.

"If the hotel is demolished, there won’t be much left of the town’s Corbett-funded structures – just a Victorian shelter on the promenade and a row of terraced houses.”