What made the Crooked House crooked?

Click to enlarge Diana of the U.S. emailed us with the above question because her children had asked her following a visit to the wonky pub. When time permits we hope to provide a definitive account with details of the characters involved, but the following information printed on the reverse of a postcard (possibly dating back to around 1920) that we recently published contains the gist of the story: The "Glynne Arms", Kingswinford, is situated in the parish of Himley, Staffordshire, about three miles from Dudley. It is named after Sir Stephen Glynne - the brother-in-law of the late Rt. Hon. W.E. Gladstone - to whom the estate on which it is situated at one time belonged. Its peculiar position at the extreme edge of this estate - where it is joined by land belonging to the Earl of Dudley - causes it to be sometimes described in error as being on the estate of his lordship. This, however, is not the case, but it explains why coal has only been mined from under one end of the house. Thus while one end of the house is at its original level, the southern portion (or lower end) has sunk several feet, yet owing to the house being unusually well built , not a crack is to be noticed, and in this respect it is almost unique. It has stood in this peculiar position for more than half a century, and has long been known as 'The Crooked' or 'Siden House'. These days even the pub's sign says the Crooked House, but as the above photo (c. 1980) by Gary Tilyard shows, the real name of the Siden House was retained until relatively recently. The white picket fence on the photo can be seen through the window of one of the postcards from half a century or more earlier - but is no longer there today.