Chichester Pubs Book

Chichester derives its name from the Saxon `Cisseceaster', although it retains its street plan and city walls from its origins as the Roman settlement of `Noviomagus'. As the principal trading town of West Sussex, many inns and taverns were established here at an early date, particularly those offering hospitality for pilgrims travelling to the thirteenth century shine of St Richard in the Cathedral. Of nearly all the ancient inns, such as the Tabard of 1440, nothing survives except names in old documents. Most of the less salubrious pubs had their licenses revoked forever in the infamous `Massacre of 1903', while further, more lamentable losses occurred in the early 1960s in the name of `slum-clearance'. Yet the city contains some remarkable survivors, most notably the Dolphin & Anchor, now JD Wetherspoon but originally seventeenth century and, until 1910, two separate establishments, divided by political allegiance to the Whigs and Tories respectively. David Muggleton takes us on a tour of this compact but elegant city, taking in a variety of period pub architecture and history, including the Georgian Ship Hotel, where plans were discussed for the Allied invasion of Europe; the Victorian Park Tavern, once called the Ritz and meeting place of Ye Ancient Order of Froth Blowers; the Old Cross, rebuilt in 1928; and the contemporary real-ale-purveying cafe bar, Belle Isle.Read More