SUN IN THE SANDS Pubs of Kidbrooke

DOVER KENT ARCHIVES

Page Updated:- Thursday, 17 October, 2024.

PUB LIST

PUBLIC HOUSES

Paul Skelton

Earliest 1745-

Sun in the Sands

Open 2021+

123 Shooters Hill Road

Kidbrooke

020 8858 0284

https://whatpub.com/sun-in-the-sands

Above photo, date unknown.

Above photo date unknown.

Above photo, date unknown.

Now part of Greater London, this area was indeed Kent before 1965. Hence, I will be adding information regarding this pub as and when I find or it is sent to me, but at present I'll be concentrating on the areas that are within the Kent boundary today.

Your help is appreciated, and every email is answered.

The Dictionary of Pub Names says the name comes from the sight of the setting sun amidst dust, kicked up by sheep herded by drovers from Kent travelling towards London. However Greenwich Council says in its "Sun in the Sands Conservation Area Character Appraisal (Adopted 26 September 2007)” that “the name “Sun in the Sands” refers to the sand pits formerly around the pub.”

This document also says: “A building on this site appears on Rocque’s 1745 map, and this appears on Hasted’s Plan in his 1778 History of Kent. The first reference to a public house appears in the 1790s rate books, the ‘Sun Ale House’ is recorded as such in 1812. The present Sun in the Sands Public House is said to date from 1842 – and is believed to have been substantially rebuilt at the end of the 19th century. However comparison of the photos of the present building with the 1830 drawing shows that the pub retains the same form – wide gable ends and 5 bay width which were there and already ‘old’ in 1830. This suggests that, whilst no doubt much altered and rebuilt, the building frame predates the 1840s and is likely to be substantially the 18th century one seen in the 1830s watercolour.

From the Borough of Greenwich Free Press, 4 August, 1855.

POLICE COURT. Monday.

John Hiney, a potboy in the employ of Mr. Miller, landlord of the "Sun-in-the-Sands" public-house, Shooter’s Hill road, was charged with embezzling various sums of money received on account of his master. Several witnesses were examined, who proved paying money to the prisoner, who was then remanded for a week.

I believe the pub caught fire early 2011 due to an electrical fault but after a refurbishment it reopened later the same year.

From the http://www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk 6 April 2017.

Plans to demolish Sun in the Sands pub in Blackheath.

Plans have been submitted to demolish the "Sun in the Sands" pub in Blackheath. The building is located at the roundabout of the same name, with developers hoping to replace it with a block consisting of commercial space at street level and eight flats above.

The current pub is in a conservation zone, but the developers claim it’s in too poor a condition to remain.

The planned replacement is a bit of a dog. It looks very cheap; the sharp angles of that corner treatment, and the grey top floor? Not good.