Yahoo News 'Never visited in my life': JK Rowling debunks claims recently sold pub was inspiration for Harry Potter
A property in Devon has sold for millions that was said to be inspired by author JK Rowling when creating Harry Potter.
The Old Fire House in Exeter City Centre is, according to Devon Live, reported to have fetched an eye-watering £3-4 million from City Pub Group PLC – a London-based PLC, owned by Made in Chelsea’s Lucy and Tiff Watson’s dad.
However, upon seeing the story, JK Rowling herself tweeted about the purchase, shooting down the claim that it inspired her for the Leaky Cauldron – the fictional, wizarding pub located in London, where the characters could enter Diagon Alley – in the Harry Potter series.
‘If you want real fantasy, go to an estate agent. Never visited this pub in my life,’ she said to her 14 million followers, to the amusement of many.
If you want real fantasy, go to an estate agent. Never visited this pub in my life. https://t.co/vzZcIejJVH
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 17, 2018
It prompted fans to tweet back, some in horror, asking if the stories they’d heard about the famed writer’s pub of choice as a stuent were in fact all made up…
Rowling replied with the pubs she did visit, which sadly doesn’t include The Old Fire House.
Red Cow, Black Horse, Mill on the Exe, the Artillery Inn (now sadly gone), but never that one, I'm afraid. https://t.co/Dy05HbApAu
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 17, 2018
Despite the pub’s transaction being a private sale, it’s believed to have been the single biggest Free House sale to have ever occurred in Devon; with the deal officially announced today, 17 January.
The property sold on behalf of Flamequire Limited, and was a former fire station between 1800 and 1930, before serving as a military recruitment office during World War II.
The Old Fire House opened as a public house in 1986 and is said to have been a drinking hole for famous faces like Rowan Atkinson and (the now debunked) JK Rowling.
The buyer must’ve been, ahem, spellbound by the claim…
Follow Yahoo Celeb UK on Twitter and Instagram for all of the latest celebrity news!
Read more:
[ Ant McPartlin is all smiles as he returns to work on Britain’s Got Talent ]
[ Home and Away actress Jessica Falkholt dies three weeks after Boxing Day crash ]
[ WATCH: Andrea McLean admits that she used to bite her children ]
