Hidden Horsham - Ye Olde Kings Head

Ye Olde Kings Head in the Carfax has been around for about 600 years. The AA sign is quite old and that is why it has been left it in the picture - although obviously a different vintage to the Inland Revenue text

The Kings Head was the home to the Post Office in 1801 and had the Inland Revenue Office between 1855 and 1881 following the introduction of a number of banking operations in the town earlier in the century. At one time the Inland Revenue had an officer appropriately named Mr Thrift

A date on the front of the building indicates that at least part of the structure dates back to 1401 although the facade is 18^th century. The English Heritage site Images of England has more information, see external links below. The entrance way for carriages has been partly boarded up but does open to allow vehicles into the car park at the rear. Click on the thumbnails to reveal the full size images

c1840 the Kings Head also operated the Assembly Room in the adjacent red brick site in East Street. The entrance, described as An Edwardian classicist style rusticated arch with voussoirs topped by a plan pediment and flanked by three rounded headed windows is still evident and can be seen in the photograph above. The room was used for entertainment, meeting and other public events. Between 1894 and 1896/7 it was used by the Brighton Road Baptist Church as a place of worship. In later years it was converted into bedrooms

On November 18, 1878 the Sussex Cattle Society was officially inaugurated at a meeting in The Kings Head

Curiously the inn has adopted the 'Ye Olde' prefix in relatively recent times. It was not used in a 1912 photograph but has appeared by the 1965 photograph below

Currently the owners are in negotiation with the town council regarding plan permission to redevelop the site. When the hotel closed in 2004 it had 42 bedrooms. In August 2005 planning permission was granted to change this to a 17 bed hotel with the rest of the space being given over to shops, restaurants and offices

Click on the image for the full size photo. The images below show Ye Olde Kings Head in 1933 and 1965 respectively. Unfortunately the featured text is not visible on either photo. For a then and now comparison click here

Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.

Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.

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