The White Harte Inn sold

For many (many) months now, local residents have been waiting patiently to find out news of what the future holds for the White Harte pub in Cuckfield.

At the end of last month, Hall and Woodhouse brewery confirmed that the pub had been sold to an independent party, who intends to keep the establishment running as a public house, and for the Thai Restaurant to continue to operate as normal.

The historic pub, built in 1881, has been looked after by Jim Ayling and his partner, Jackie Young for almost 17 years now, but the time has finally come for them to move on from pulling pints and serving freshly cooked homemade meals.

Jackie said: “Jim and I would like to thank all our customers and friends for their support over the years. We will miss everyone very much. This has been a very difficult and challenging time for us all, so we’d like to send our best wishes to all of the other pubs in the village, and hope that they continue to flourish.”

White Hart 1867: No rush as ham thieves have midnight feast

www.cuckfieldconnections.org.uk

On Tuesday night some thieves broke into the White Hart Inn (Mrs Stubberfield’s) by forcing open the shutter, a hinged one, of the bar window, into which room they got and seem to have forced open the money till with a pair of sugar nippers lying on the counter. They took about £2 in coin, nearly all pence. They also opened and disturbed the contents of another drawer and a workbox, took down a bottle of bitters and helped themselves, leaving a bottle and cork on the table.

They also displaced the cigar boxes, emptying one nearly half full of its contents and carrying away a bottle of peppermint. By aid of a key, they got into the cellar, from whence they took about four or five lbs of cooked bacon; they seem to have eaten a small quantity of it, from the appearance of a small bone, freshly gnawed; they left behind part of a loaf of bread and a bottle of cordial. Letting themselves out by the back door they threw away part of a rush candle in the yard and decamped. The thieves are still at large.
Surrey Gazette - Tuesday 12 March 1867

The White Harte, Cuckfield - Behind the Counter

By Jacqueline Elmore

On the corner of South Street in Cuckfield an imposing three-pronged chimney stack sits above a timberframed, fish scale-tiled coaching inn. Below its pitched roof is an image of a white deer flanked by the numbers ‘1881’. Other lettering around the old sign includes ‘H’ and ‘W’ for the associated brewery (Hall and Woodhouse) and ‘Ye White Harte Inne’, its ancient and locally loved name.

The White Harte Inn is one of Cuckfield’s ‘familiar faces’ and the first public house that you will see when entering the village from the south. The inn has been the place to go for a pie and a pint of ale for (literally) hundreds of years. Behind its doors lives landlord and long-standing publican James (Jim) Ayling, who has lived at the inn for nearly 15 years.

“I’ve not always been in the pub trade. It’s an interesting story actually. My now partner, Jackie, used to work here in the kitchen. One day we decided that we’d give it a go and take over the reins. That’s really how we ended up here and much of the reason why we are still here now.”

Jim, who was born and raised in Hove, originally worked in hotels and restaurants in Brighton and had stints as an engineer before returning to hospitality, this time as a publican.

When Jim first arrived in the village he worked behind the bar at the King’s Head pub, situated just around the corner from the White Harte.

[Full story published in the January 2019 issue of Cuckfield Life magazine[