The Horse Guards Inn
Upperton Rd Tillington West Sussex GU28 9AF
It’s impossible – really – not to love this fabulous 350-year-old pub, in the tiny village of Tillington, right on the back doorstep of Petworth House. Come in winter for crackling fires (four of them), warm spiced cider or homemade sloe gin, board games and a local seasonal menu of game terrine, south coast mackerel, local pheasant and venison and the like. It’s even better on a sunny summer’s day, when you can feast on Selsey crab and Rye Bay scallops in the idyllic garden out the back, which comes decked out with bunting, hay bale seating, deckchairs and a hammock. Main dishes are mainly in the region of £11–17, though there’s a small selection of cheaper options (including sandwiches and ploughmans – made with home-baked bread) at lunchtime. If you want to stay, there are a couple of lovely rooms above the pub plus a tiny cottage next door.
