Frant & Eridge - two Sussex villages and their pubs, share a common heritage

After escaping from the field and its flock of sinister-looking sheep, that seemed intent on preventing me from finishing last Saturday’s walk, I reached the busy, A26 main road and continued north for a couple of hundred yards. This brought me to the Nevill Crest & Gun, an attractive pub with over 500 years of history.  Set back from the road, and close to the entrance of Eridge Park Estate, the Nevill was the place where I could rest for a while, take the weight off my feet, and relax, over a pint or two of beer.

The intriguing name of the pub relates to its connection with the nearby Eridge Park Estate, home to the Nevill family since 1448. The “Nevill Crest” refers quite literally to the crest of the Nevill family, and it is their coat of arms that adorns the pub and many other buildings in the surrounding area. The “Gun” part of the name arose from a forge on the estate which produced cannons and cannon balls. At one time an ancient cannon, made of strips of metal held together with hoops, was fired on fair days or other days of celebration, and it is this Gun that is referred to in the pub name.  

Eridge Park has been the home of the Nevill family since they inherited the house and estate in 1448. The Nevills were also granted the title of Earls of Abergavenny, and this is reflected by the name of the pub in the nearby village of Frant. I started my walk, last Saturday from the Abergavenny Arms, so it is worth taking a look at this hostelry first, before moving on to the Nevill Crest & Gun. The Abergavenny is an attractive, former coaching inn, which occupies a prominent position overlooking the main A267 Tunbridge Wells- Eastbourne road. The part tile-hung building dates back to the 15^th Century, and the age of the building is immediately apparent when you step inside. There are two large, heavily beamed rooms, one of which acts as a restaurant-cum-function room. Both areas are served from a large and well-appointed bar, and as I discovered last weekend, this is the beating hear of the pub.

I entered via the side door, as this was the closest entrance to the bus stop, passing the restaurant on my way to the bar. There were a number of barflies sat at the counter, although there was still room for me to be served. Harvey’s Best was the sole cask beer on sale, but it was in excellent form. The elderly male clique at the bar appeared totally unaware of my presence, although the barmaid was friendly, as was the lone female, perched on a stool, away from the old duffers, but as she seemed engrossed in a book, our conversation was largely to the antics of the pub dog, who was alternating between the log fire, and the possibility of treats at the bar.

If anything, the place embodied middle England on a Saturday lunchtime, where the male customers come to get away from their significant others. As for the girl, I got the impression she was waiting for someone, and was reading a book so as not to feel out of place. The Abergavenny is primarily a diners’ pub, although as witnessed, it does cater for drinkers in the area around the bar.

The villages of Frant and Eridge, both lie beyond the southern fringes of Tunbridge Wells, with the former situated on the A276 road which runs towards Eastbourne, and the latter lying on the A26, which leads down to Lewes, the county town of East Sussex. The villages, and their pubs, are connected by a short section of the Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk, and this was the rather muddy hike reported on in the post before last.

Returning to the Nevill Crest & Gun, this 500-year-old listed building was once part of the aforementioned Eridge Park Estate. Today the pub is part of the Brunning & Price chain and NOT, as stated incorrectly in my post of September 2020, a Whiting & Hammond establishment. For the record, the latter are a small, local chain of pubs, operated along similar lines to B&P, although it is quite easy to confuse the two. The Little Brown Jug, just a short distance away from my workplace in Chiddingstone Causeway, is a Whiting & Hammond pub, as is the Chaser Inn, at Shipbourne, to the north of Tonbridge.

The Nevill Crest and Gun has an interior on two slightly different levels. There are plenty of old beams, as might be expected in a building of this age, whilst at the rear of the pub, a lighter garden room, overlooking the lawns, is popular in summer. In early February, the open log fires were of much more interest to me than the garden, and they helped add to the atmosphere of this lovely old pub.

One feature I was glad about was the flooring of bare brick and exposed wooden boards, especially in view of my muddy walking boots. I took the precaution of placing those disposable over shoes (the type you see in clean room areas) on my footwear, but I still felt a little self-conscious sliding around with these bright-blue coverings over my hiking boots but wearing them was a darn sight easier than having to completely remove my tightly laced boots.

As in other B&P pubs, a comprehensive food menu is available along with a selection of cask beers, some of them local. I started off with a pint of Harvey’s Best last Saturday, and it was stunningly good. I scored it at 4.5 on Untappd. Also available was Volks ESB from 360° Brewery, a Coffee Stout collaboration beer between Vocation and Adnam’s, plus the “House” B&P Best Biter, brewed by St Austell. I risked a half of the Coffee Stout and was glad it wasn’t a pint. There was nothing wrong with the beer, it just wasn’t to my taste.

There was a nice Saturday afternoon atmosphere in the Nevill, during the duration of my visit. A couple sitting at the bar, commented on my choice of Coffee Stout, having tried it for themselves, but with the Harvey’s as good as it was, anything else would have paled into insignificance. The pub seemed dog friendly too, as might be expected in a country pub.

So, two Brunning & Price pubs in less than a week, (remember my meal at the Hare with our Japanese visitors?)  With its rustic feel and attractive rural setting, I found the Nevill far more to my taste, than the Hare. The latter was pleasant enough, even though it reminded me of a posh Edwardian family home, with its impressive mahogany staircase, and collection of comfortably furnished rooms leading off from the central vestibule. The numerous paintings completed the scene if you’ll pardon the pun.   

So, all in all some interesting, and quite contrasting pubs, all contained within a relatively tight geographical area. What will my next pub visit turn up?

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