This village local acted as a court house until the 19th century and retains many early features including the tiled floor around the bar area, bench seating and bay windows from the 1930s. Toad in the hole is still played on a very old board in the low-ceilinged games room. The focus is now on food (booking for meals recommended), but there is still a good pub vibe at the bar, attracting visitors, locals and walkers on the South Downs Way. The pub is situated close to the Burning Sky Brewery and one of their beers is often available. Also near the Charleston Farmhouse, home to Vanessa Bell and a favourite haunt of the Bloomsbury Group. Letting rooms are usually sold out during the Glyndebourne Festival (mid-May to end of Aug). Real cider available from the cellar (ask).
Two star - A pub interior of very special national historic interest
Listed status: II
An eighteenth-century, part-flint, part-tile-hung building with three pub rooms and which remained unspoilt whilst in Mrs Mary Hufnet's family from 1908 to the 1980s.
The small original public bar has a quarry-tiled floor, dado panelling with some attached benching and a disused hatch that served the room behind. Both the panelled counter and the lower parts of the bar back are old but the upper section of the latter is from 2005.
A door to the left of the servery leads down to a snug/games room where the parquet floor and brick fireplace are from the 1930s but the dado panelling and attached benches are older.
Some years ago, the bar was opened up to the bare-boarded left-hand room; floor and ceiling markings show the former position of the dividing wall. From this area, steps lead to a room that, until the late nineteenth century, doubled as a court house. It has a bare, uneven wood floor and a fine old fireplace.
An eighteenth-century, part flint, part tile-hung building with three pub rooms. It was in Mrs Mary Hufnet's family from 1908 to the 1980's during which it remained unspoilt. The small original public bar has a red quarry tiled floor laid diagonally. It retains its old panelled bar counter with a shotblasted front. The bar back retains its old main shelf and a small piece of lower shelving but fridges elsewhere but the upper section dates from 2005 and is painted a dark green colour. In the left section is a now disused hatch still with its upper window that served the small room behind. Attached to the dado panellingis some bare wooden benching. To the left of the servery is a door and step down to the snug / games room with a parquet floor from the 1930s and a brick fireplace of a similar date with a log fire. The old dado panelling is painted dark green with old benches attached. There is a good number of cushions for the comfort of diners as this is more likely to be used by them than customers playing the local pub game of Toad in the Hole nowadays!The bar was opened-up to the bare boarded left-hand room some years ago – look at the floor and ceiling to see markings showing the position of where the dividing wall was positioned. The walls and dado panelling have been painted the ubiquitous grey-green colour and at the rear is an old fireplace.From the far left of this room some steps lead to a room that doubled as a court house until the late nineteenth century. It has a bare uneven wood floor and a fine old fireplace with good decoration at the top and a mirrored mantelpiece.
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This Pub serves 3 changing beers and 1 regular beer.
Ram Inn, Firle