Above photo, 1900s, kindly sent by Michael Mirams.

Above photo, date unknown.

Above photo, 1950.

Information taken from their web site accessed 4 December 2018.

(Previous) Our Story...as we know it.

This is the history as it was passed on to us.

In the year of 1709, one Joshua Hickmutt, purchased the property and registered it under the title of "The White Hart".

During the mid eighteenth century this part of Chelsfield became known as "The Bo Peep", and is still shown as such on some recent maps. The name was derived from the nursery rhyme penned by smugglers of the period, known as "Owlers", infamous for their illicit trade in wool smuggling, much of which took place from a small cove near Hastings known as "Bo Peep".

Smugglers were known to frequent Chelsfield using the labyrinth of caves and tunnels the area was once abound with, as hiding places or "drops" for London bound contraband. One such tunnel is reputed to have run from "White Hart" and came up in a disused well in a garden at Crockenhill. From this the ale house was known, to the locals, as "Bo Peep".

"The White Hart" often came under the scrutiny of Customs’ Riding Officers and in 1783 the inn was mentioned in a statement made by one John Kelly, a Riding Officer, to his superiors at Hastings. It reads:- "We are in possession of sufficient facts to know that smugglers are taking every method to improve their trading and also conveying immense quantities of spirits to London. They have warehouses at proper distances on the roads. One such place of hiding is a dense wooded area near Orpington called "Bo Peep". My men and I have been watchful of a drinking house there called "The White Hart".

In September 1785 Riding Officer Kelly was shot and killed when with other Riding Officers and a company of dragoons ambushed a gang of smugglers near Battle, Sussex.

In 1815, the inn was purchased by a Henry Brooker and a Wine License obtained. Then in 1868 during the reign of Queen Victoria a full spirit license was granted to another Henry Brooker, grandson of the aforementioned. England was involved in many parts of the world during the following years while "The White Hart" continued to serve the farming community with little change. The hop pickers were paid their wages here, in tokens and an annual cake bake was held but the origin and reason for the latter were not recorded.

(to continue)