Cool Places
100
The Crown Inn, Dial Post
South East England West Sussex Horsham
- From £120 a night
- 3 Guest Rooms, 1 Suite & 2 Cottages
- Pub with Rooms
With great food, local ales and comfortable boutique rooms, this Sussex village pub is hard to beat.
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Occupying an almost impossibly desirable position overlooking Dial Post's village green, The Crown Inn is a properly cosy country pub. Originally a 16th-century coaching inn, it was taken over 17 years ago by Penny and James Middleton Burn, who have launched it into the 21st century while losing none of its innate pubby charm. It has a lovely beamed bar with stone floors and antique rugs, mismatched furniture, and a wood burner squeezed into an ancient brick hearth in the bar and another one in the restaurant. Penny and James have also developed a big and deserved reputation for the quality of their food, and also added four comfy and beautifully appointed rooms upstairs if you want to stay over, as well as two beautifully refurbished self-catering cottages right next to the pub. And it's dog friendly! As village boozers go, it's hard to beat.
The Crown's food is as unpretentious as it is high quality, offering a pub classics menu and seasonal favourites plus a daily-changing specials board from Wednesdays to Saturdays. James is the chef, and he not only pretty much exclusively uses local farmers and other producers but also regularly forages for wild ingredients nearby. Penny oversees the pub, which has both a cosy bar and a light, bright garden room, plus a beer garden at the back and tables overlooking the village green at the front. It's patronised as much by local drinkers as diners, and is also a terrific place to stay, with four comfortable and quirky guest rooms, each individually designed to a high spec. All rooms have fast wifi, smart TVs, mini-fridges, Nespresso machines, complimentary water and homemade biscuits, plus high-quality vintage beds and bedding. En-suite bathrooms come with walk-in showers plus toiletries, and there's a family suite with two double beds accommodating four people, that has its own bathroom with a bath and shower. A continental breakfast hamper is an optional extra, delivered to your room.
For a bit more space, the Coach House cottage sleeps two adults and up to two children and comes complete with a fully equipped kitchen, a dining area, a snug-style sitting room, a family bathroom, and a bedroom upstairs in the eaves. Meanwhile, the Hayloft is a stylish bolthole for two, with a characterful beamed bedroom, a shower room, a compact but well-decked-out kitchen, and a living area. It's worth noting that parts of the bedroom require you to duck! Both properties have a private patio to relax on, when the weather plays ball.
Finally, the location is ideal for a short break from London, just off the A24 Worthing Road and reachable in a little over an hour by car. You're close to some of the loveliest scenery of the South Downs National Park, and just a 20-minute drive from the coast, plus you have the wonderful Knepp Castle Estate to visit on your doorstep, whose re-wilding project set the template for many others across the UK. In short, a perfect venue for a West Sussex break.
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Details
Nearby
There are many excellent walks over the surrounding West Sussex countryside and exciting and unusual wildlife to be seen on the neighbouring Knepp Castle Estate, known for its re-wilding project.Open
Open all year round.Pricing
Rooms from £120 a night; cottages from £360 for a two-night stay (two-night minimum).
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The Owner Says
The Crown Inn, Dial Post, West Sussex is an award-winning free house owned and run by Penny and James Middleton Burn. Opposite the village green, the pub has a strong reputation for the excellent quality of its homemade food.
The daily menu consists of pub classics and seasonal specials cooked by owner and head chef James, always using fresh ingredients and nearly everything is cooked from scratch. The pub supports local Sussex breweries, farmers, suppliers and producers and James is often out foraging for wild food.
Location
Contact Website 01403 710 902 The Crown Inn, Dial Post, Worthing Rd, Dial Post, Near Horsham, West Sussex RH13 8NHFeatures
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Reviews
Let us know what you think of your stay.
Add Your ReviewRated ★★★★★ over 6 reviews
A little gem in a beautiful spot
Had a two-night stay at this little gem, with my wife and our dog Archie. Room was beautifully decorated and equipped, warm welcome and excellent food in the pub. Really appreciated the little extras put in the room, log fire and real ale in bar excellent. Nice view over village green - thanks for a fab stay!
Well worth a visit
Went to the Knepp Estate for a look around and stopped off for lunch before our journey back. Lovely pub! The staff were very accommodating and friendly and the food was great. We had the pork belly which was 😋 and everything it came with was good. We also shared a cauliflower cheese which was very nice too. Definitely will be back!
Great food, lovely staff
We were staying at Knepp, the local wildlife estate, and walked to the Crown each day for either lunch or dinner. The food was amazing, great choice and such friendly and attentive staff. Would thoroughly recommend. To sit on the village green or in their comfy conservatory sipping a wine was bliss.
Immaculate Room!
Stayed in the butterfly room for a few days - room was immaculately clean and lovely coffee and tea facilities with fresh milk, homemade shortcake biscuits, toiletries. We had a lovely stay. Thank you so much xx
Just fabulous. Wonderful rooms and wonderful staff.
What a wonderful place. We stayed overnight in the Butterfly room. The room was beautifully decorated, immaculate with absolute attention to detail. The staff could not have been more helpful and accommodating. Dial Post is a beautiful and very picturesque village. Breakfast was beautifully presented and of a very high quality, the ham was beautiful and the eggs must have been free-range as they tasted fabulous. The best bed and breakfast I have ever had the pleasure of staying in. Very highly recommended. Thank you to all the staff at the Crown Inn, Dial Post.
Lovely stay
Just back from a short 2 night stay at the lovely Crown Inn and absolutely adored everything about the place from the beautifully quirky Safari room, all the fantastic friendly staff, the food and the brilliant location for the nearby walking trails.
We couldn’t have been made more welcome and Doug (the dog) loved it too !!
The beds were very comfortable and good coffee is provided in room ,all in all an extremely enjoyable short stay with a great atmosphere,would highly recommend and will return for sure…..thanks guys.
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