The Dolphin and Anchor

The present pub of this name dates back to 1997 and is situated in the western part of what were once the principal coaching inns of Chichester – one called the Anchor, the other the Dolphin.

The present Dolphin and Anchor
The Anchor with local cycle club Easter Monday 1913
The Dolphin Hotel old
The Dolphin Hotel (foreground) and The Anchor Hotel

The picture of the earlier Anchor Hotel above shows a meeting of the Chichester and District Motorcycle Club on Easter Monday 1913. In 1914 the Anchor Hotel (Home Counties Trust) was noted to offer ‘family & commercial; billiards, motor garage and inspection pit’ services.

The Dolphin Hotel 1903 advert

Both inns date back to the seventeenth century, but it is possible that an older inn – The George – stood on this site by 1519 and possibly earlier. The Dolphin was already established in 1660 and in 1670 was noted as containing 23 hearths, a number only equalled by the Bishop’s palace. In 1632 Henry Chitty was Mayor of Chichester and took a lease of the Dolphin Inn, which he sold in 1637. Henry was the captain of the local militia, known as the trained band at the time of the Civil War. He was central in the defense of the City during the Civil War in 1642.

The city was bitterly divided during the civil war of the 1640s and this factionalism continued into the eighteenth century, with the Anchor becoming the headquarters of the Tory party and the Dolphin becoming the base for the Whigs. Elections in those days were very rowdy, with considerable drunkenness and riotous behaviour.

In 1922 the two inns had separate licenses and it was noted by the licensing authorities that there was no door or other means to separate one hotel from the other. It was therefore agreed that in future only one licence would be issued and that the premises from thereon would be called the Dolphin and Anchor Hotel. As state by the authorities, in effect it was simply the surrendering of the license of the Anchor and the extending of the premises of the Dolphin.

The Dolphin and Anchor as one licence

 

The Anchor and Dolphin advert

The Anchor Hotel’s ‘Whig and Tory’ bar has been converted into the present-day Dolphin and Anchor bar and was opened following the closure of the hotel in 1997. Several large retail outlets now operate from the former hotel buildings. The Dolphin and Anchor Hotel was Grade II listed in 1950.

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