The Chichester Inn

The Chichester Inn at 38 West Street is built on the site of a medieval house belonging to the Dean of Chichester Cathedral.


The house was left in a ruined condition following the siege of the city during the civil war. The house had been rebuilt by 1692 and by 1754 it had become an inn known as the Three Kings. By 1792 it was called the Duke of Richmond Arms but was recorded in 1805 as the Castle with Barrett named as publican (the Castle Inn is seen in the picture below).

It retained this name until 1992 then becoming The Chichester Inn. It was a popular venue for meetings including the Chichester Hand Bell Club from 1844, the draymen in the employ of Messrs George Henty & Sons, brewers in 1909 and the Committee of the Licensed Victuallers Association newly formed in that year. In 1905 ‘sixty yards of bicycles’ caused consternation when stood by the curb one behind the other outside the Inn. It was a visit by thirty of forty members of the Portsmouth Arrow Cycling Club who used the Inn as their headquarters. Twice that many were expected to visit the City the following week to sight-see!

In 1911 a reproduction of the long-gone Westgate Arch was created to commemorate the coronation of George V with one arch leading to the Castle Inn (as seen in an accompanying picture).

According to legend, the ghost of a Roman soldier haunts the premises. The building was listed Grade II in 1971 (then named The Castle).

Landords included: 1805 Barrett; 1832, 1839 Thomas Stone; 1851 J Heather; 1855 J. Bridger; 1861 Richared Louch; 1866 Edward Louch; 1890, 1891 William Millington; 1899 William Philmore Morris; 1905 Frederick Edward Augustus Greene; 1909,1911,1914, 1915 John Deighton; 1919 Mrs Lucy Dyton/Dighton; 1920, 1925 J. Hart

Some other images:

Another view of the ceremonial arch at Westgate.

 

The west gate entrance to the City stood till 1777 when it was demolished. The bottleneck for traffic is shown in the image below. Road improvements in the 1970s led to the demolition of houses in Westgate and the creation of the present roundabout.

Castle Inn on the left, also showing the Westgate pinch point (Photo With thanks to Gravelroots.net "http://www.gravelroots.net/history/180.html")
Castle Inn on the left, also showing the Westgate pinch point (Photo With thanks to Gravelroots.net “http://www.gravelroots.net/history/180.html”)
Westgate plaque

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.