BOWL Pub of Charing

DOVER KENT ARCHIVES

Page Updated:- Tuesday, 21 October, 2025.

PUB LIST

PUBLIC HOUSES

Paul Skelton

Earliest 1606-

Bowl

Open 2024+

Egg Hill Road

Charing

01233 712256

http://bowlinncharing.com/

https://whatpub.com/bowl-inn

Above photo, January 1976, taken by Gordon Luck and sent by Dougie Moon.

Above photo, 27 August 1984, by Jim Ashby.

Photos taken on 28 August, 2006 from http://www.flickr.com by John Law.

Above photo August 2024, kindly sent by Michael Harris.

Above photo 2024.

Above sign left, August 1990. Sign right, October 2006.

Thanks from Brian Curtis www.innsignsociety.com.

The "Bowl," situated high above Charing on top of the North Downs in a Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), was originally built as a farmhouse in 1512, and then in 1606 it became a brewhouse. I have also seen this addressed as at Stalisfield.

An entry in Fremlin's 1950s publication called "Where shall we go," indicated the following:- Phone number - Charing 256. Parking accommodation - Cars only. Remarks - Police Regulations allow 15 seater Coaches only, owing to width of road in the vicinity.

It has had a long and varied history until the present licensees took charge in 1992. Alan and Sue Paine have managed to forge their own mark on this 16th Century Freehouse. For those not content to just relax in front of the log fire in the huge old inglenook or play a quiet game of cards, dominoes or shut-the-box, there is an unusual hexagonal rotating pool table. Added to this is an extensive rural garden and South facing front sun terrace which is covered and heated on those more typical English summer days! There are also facilities for camping.

In 2006 they were awarded the Bronze award for Green Tourism and still carry out best Green practices but are no longer members of the scheme. (2014)

Previous licensee Lindsay Parsons kindly sent me the following:- The pub was indeed built in 1512 - originally a farmhouse. It was much smaller then, having been greatly extended over the years.

The small window above the main front entrance was only added when a small room was discovered to the side of the fireplace upstairs - approximately 6ft x 5ft, it was completely blocked either side of the two rooms upstairs, and was a former Priest's Hole - a hiding place for the Catholic Priests, dating back to he 1500s, with access being only from a hatch in the ceiling to the attic above.

The main staircase originally ran up the other side of the fireplace in what is now the bar, with the back part of the pub and toilets being added at a later date. The original small brick toilet was still in the rear garden when we moved in, together with an old stable and outhouse, though these are long demolished now.

We left a lot of the history behind when we left, although I suspect these were removed over time.

In the pub on the wall, was a printed list of all the former Landlords dating back to the 1800s.

The last I remember, were Lew and Grace Neaves who had lived there and run the pub for nearly 40 years before us. (The Neaves are still a very large prominent family in the area.)

Having grown up in a house of similar age, I started investigating, and being drawn to the old open fireplace, I found within it in a recess above the main beam, which housed two ancient small leather shoes, which would have been put there in the very early days to ward off evil spirits!

(The shoes together with several very old photos given to us by Lew and Grace Neaves I passed on to the next Landlord, however, I fear these have now been lost.)

As we started to build up trade, it became very apparent from the locals, that they wanted an old fashioned pub, just the way Lew and Grace ran it, so we hung hops from the beams and stoked up the open fire for cold winter nights, and carried on their tradition of having extra stock of essential items - everything from tin foil down to hot water bottles to save the locals a trek to a shop. Food was soon on the menu and our little restaurant grew, catering for local pheasant shoot dinners, folk music nights and parties for the local Doctors surgery. Even Christmas day lunch, when we opened our doors to locals who perhaps lived alone.

My greatest memory is of the October storm in 1987, when we were without water or electricity for ten days, and all the locals flocked to The Bowl Inn!

Local farmers brought us water in large tanks, some provided camping gaz cookers, and with spare bricks I made a make-shift oven in the open fireplace, cooking roasts and stew for all. What a wonderful community it was.

With trees down everywhere, even our pub sign succumbed to the wind and came crashing down.

Whilst I don't have a photo of the original sign, I did take a photograph of the replacement sign that Whitbread supplied, and I wrote an amusing poem that was printed in our local Licensed Victuallers magazine when they ran a Pub Signs Competition, which I still have.

Quite remarkable, the phone number is still the same, although now slightly extended from 256, to 01233 712256.

Local knowledge, further pictures, and licensee information would be appreciated.

I will be adding the historical information when I find or are sent it, but this project is a very big one, and I do not know when or where the information will come from.

All emails are answered.

Kentish Gazette, Tuesday 25 September 1855.

At the petty sessions on Monday, before the Rev. Dr. Poore and the Rev. G. B. Moore, licences of several innkeeper's in the district of Sittingbourne were renewed.

Abraham Chapman, of the "Bowl Inn," Stalisfield, was summoned by Mr. Superintendent Green for keeping open his house for the sale of beer at a quarter to 12 o'clock on Sunday, the 2nd instant. The defendant pleaded guilty, but said he was not at home at the time. Fined £2 10s., including costs.

From the Kentish Chronicle, 26 March, 1864.

A VICTIM OF INTEMPERANCE.

On Saturday, Mr. Deputy-Coroner Callaway held an inquest at the “Bowl Inn,” Stalisfield, on the body of Andrew J Tosh, labourer, aged 35 years. Elizabeth Chapman, sister of the landlord of the “Bowl” deposed that on the previous Wednesday the deceased was drinking at that house. He was the worse for liquor when he entered, and was served with three pints of beer. About half-past fire o’clock in the afternoon he left to go home.

Mr. Spillett, farmer, deposed that the deceased had been in his service, off and on, for several years. About 6 o’clock on Wednesday evening Mr. Spillett, saw the deceased lying by a style in a field. He was snoring heavily and Mr. Spillett did not disturb him, having seen him in that state on many previous occasions.

William Water, of Stalisfield, labourer, deposed:- On Wednesday, about half-past five, I was at work in the same field where the body was found. I saw the deceased crossing the meadow. I was only about four rods from him. He said “I can't walk straight.” He was walking very crooked, as if he was in liquor. I saw him get as far as the end of the meadow, and then reel into the hedge. His hands were in his trousers pockets. On the next morning about half-past seven I was in the same meadow and found the body of deceased lying down in the same place where I had seen him roll into the hedge—lying rather on his right side. His mouth and one of his nostrils were in the ground. His head was lower than his body, and his hands still in his pockets. With assistance I removed him.

The Deputy-Coroner having summed up, the jury returned a verdict of “Death from suffocation caused by intemperate habits.”

From the https://www.kentlive.news By Lauren MacDougall, 21 December 2019.

The 33 pubs in Kent you have to drink at in 2020 according to CAMRA.

In total Kent has heaps of pubs listed in the guide and, while 33 of these are new entries, others have appeared in previous editions of the guide.

A total of 33 pubs from around Kent make up the new entries that feature in the 2020 edition of the Good Beer Guide.

The guide is produced annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the independent guide to the best boozers in the UK that is researched by unpaid and independent volunteers nationwide.

Tom Stainer, CAMRA’s chief executive, said: “For nearly five decades, the Good Beer Guide has been a comprehensive guide to the UK’s breweries, their ales, and the best outlets to find them in across the country.

“What makes the Guide unique is that all the entries are compiled and vetted by a huge volunteer team, based around the country. We work hard to ensure that all areas of the country are covered and, unlike with some competitor titles, inclusion in this book is dependent only on merit, not on payment.

“The Good Beer Guide has always had an important role in acting as a barometer of the beer and pub industry. We believe information gleaned from the Guide is absolutely vital in the drive to save our pubs from closure and campaign for policies that better support pubs, local brewers and their customers.”

This pub is included in the 2020 list.

Bowl Inn, Charing.

What the guide says: "This lovingly restored Grade II-listed village pub with vintage advertising material retains many period features."

What the guide says: "In former bank premises, this bar is tastefully decorated with low tables and chairs and has a collection of old keg beer fonts displayed on shelves and window ledges."

LICENSEE LIST

CHAPMAN Elizabeth 1841+ (age 70 in 1841)