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Archaeology in the garden of the Gun Inn in April 1998 as experts look for evidence of gun founding. |
THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, UK.
"SAVE THE GUN"
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Archaeology in the garden of the Gun Inn in April 1998 as experts look for evidence of gun founding. |
Copyright Valerie Martin 1999.
In October 1996 I heard a rumour that circulated like wild fire in Findon that the Gun Inn had been sold for a million pounds. Whitbread Brewery, the owners, disputed this.
In December there was a meeting to "Save The Gun" in the Village Hall which was packed with concerned "regulars", many having to stand at the back. Ian Mallender, (secretary of the Save the Gun Committee), revealed to the audience that the identity of the prospective buyer was Protodale Limited of 2 The Square Findon.
He read out a letter from Richard Gillam who resided in the South of France:-
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The prospective purchaser of the Gun Inn is my company. We are a small local development company, based in the village for eight years. All the pressure for agreeing a sale was by ourselves. We do not currently have a contract to purchase the property. We are well aware of the Grade II listing.
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The letter continued:-
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Our proposals are for change of use into three residential units and it is not in our interests to allow further deterioration of the property. Findon Village has four public houses and all four are finding it most difficult to survive.
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Richard Gillam said that neither he nor his partner, Mr. Peter Bradley, were able to be at the meeting.
Ian Mallender said that although Richard Gillam said Protodale Limited had been operating in the village for eight years, nobody had ever heard of them. The premises at 2 The Square had been occupied by Village Homes, which had since merged with Michael Jones. Although Richard Gillam was resident in the South of France, he was reputed to visit Findon every two weeks and stayed in the village.
A statement from Whitbread was handed out to everyone attending the meeting. This admitted that the company had been given an offer for the Gun Inn and it was under an obligation to investigate it. Whitbread stated that the Gun Inn was not for sale on the open market and it was too early to speculate on a final decision over its future.
The prospective buyers of the Gun Inn announced in 1997 their intention of converting the present structure into four dwelling units and constructing additional flats on the site.
In response to this, the aims of the Save the Gun campaign were as follows:-
(1) Oppose change of use. We will fight to stop corporate and development greed from denying public access after at least 300 years of continuous operation as an inn.
(2) Structural alterations. Originally constructed as a hall house in medieval times, the building contains significant interior and exterior features. We strongly object to anything that compromises the integrity of these features.
(3) New construction. We will vigorously oppose the granting of planning permissions for high density housing in this historic location.
In April 1997, the "Save the Gun" campaign was still going strong with the sale of sweatshirts in aid of funds.
At a Findon Parish Council meeting, members agreed to write to Whitbread Brewery asking for some attention to be given to the exterior of the Gun Inn which was in an appalling state of repair.
In June 1997, Allan Day was welcomed to the inn as the new Manager, together with his wife, Lesley — and their canine tail-wagging chum, Max. It was good news for Findon.
Subsequent repairs, maintenance and new equipment, had to be seen to be believed. Paint brushes were busy in the Garden Room, Village Bar, Lounge and Hall and enhanced the general refurbishment. In fact, everywhere was given a new face-lift. A fresh lick of paint was also applied to the exterior tables and benches — and the floodlighting in the garden area was substantially improved.
In fact, former "regulars" of the Gun Inn returned to give their custom and patronage to the friendly house on the corner in The Square, thanks to Allan and Lesley Day and all the helpers of the Save The Gun Campaign. Allan Day was truly Mine Host at the Gun Inn in 1997 and old Thomas Leicester who rallied to pay his dues for a licence at the property in 1619, would have been proud of him.
In December, 1997, Planning Permission was sought by Newman Developments Limited for the conversion of The Gun Inn into two dwelling houses; the conversion of the stable buildings at the rear into a single house; and the construction in the grounds of six cottages and ten apartments with a carport and car parking area. All of the properties to be for persons of retirement age.
More than 150 people packed into Findon Village Hall on a Friday night in January 1998 to lend their support to the Save the Gun Inn campaign. They arrived in droves and many were forced to stand in the hall foyer and spilled out into the car park. Extra chairs were brought in for protestors to hear the parish council’s planning committee discuss an application to turn the listed building site into 19 retirement homes. It was explained that Newman Developments Limited owned by Gregory Spencer Caswill, formerly of The Coach House in School Lane (and now of Tanbridge Park in Horsham), wished to convert the inn into two homes and convert the stable block into a third. A block of six flats, three up and three down, another block of four, with two up and two down, was proposed in the garden. Together with a terrace of six cottages at the back of the car park.
By the end of the two hour long meeting, the vast majority left for the hospitality of the Gun Inn, delighted that councillors had agreed to send a letter of objection to the Arun District Council. A spontaneous round of applause was given after committee chairman, Nigel Collard, announced the obvious, "I think the consensus basically is that we are against the development".
In April 1998, the garden of the Gun Inn was transformed into an archaeological dig. County Hall had requested that the developers organise a dig before discussing their plans. A team from the Hassocks based company, Archaeology South East, moved in with a JCB digger to commence cutting a 1.5 metre wide trench. Unfortunately, as the work came to a close the following day, the experts declared that they had discovered very little of interest. They had been hoping for indications of "rubbish pits" associated with the inn which would show up as different coloured soil and maybe give a link to gun founding conducted at the premises.
In November 1998, Arun District Council eventually gave the go-ahead to the controversial development plans for the Gun Inn garden site. This was in spite of a number of meetings in the village hall and many letters of protest being written. Downland applications sub-committee members voted by six votes to one to approve the conversion block into a home and the building of five other dwellings in the grounds. Campaigners felt villagers were let down by the decision and said the Findon Parish Council had not reflected the views of the majority. More than 250 villagers signed a petition opposing the development. Arun District Council received 58 letters of opposition. The Arun District Council nevertheless passed the application.
In November 1998 it was announced that the new owner of the Gun Inn would be Nick Haji-Georgiou. He already ran the Spotted Cow public house at nearby Angmering and was in the final stages of exchanging contracts for the £350,000 deal to buy the Gun Inn. He revealed that he planned to spend £100,000 on refurbishing the building and promised to protect its historic character. Pints were raised in triumph at the Gun Inn. Nick kept his pledge and renovations started in the summer of 1999.
Continue if you would like to read about the Mystery of the Murals at the Gun Inn.
This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.
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E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com |
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