Bar renovation reveals historic front

A BAR manager got a surprise when renovation work unmasked a 120 year old facade.
WH 171014 Bar Next Door, Rowlands Road, Worthing  -  sign taken down and original 120+ year old sign found underneath. Owner Tina de Lacy. Photo by DereK Martin SUS-141017-232303001WH 171014 Bar Next Door, Rowlands Road, Worthing  -  sign taken down and original 120+ year old sign found underneath. Owner Tina de Lacy. Photo by DereK Martin SUS-141017-232303001
WH 171014 Bar Next Door, Rowlands Road, Worthing - sign taken down and original 120+ year old sign found underneath. Owner Tina de Lacy. Photo by DereK Martin SUS-141017-232303001

Renovation man Graham Bushby was tearing down the dissipated shop front of Bar Next Door, Rowlands Road, Worthing when he stumbled upon the well-preserved shopfront of pastry-cook and caterer H.W Hale.

Mr Bushby said: “I was very surprised, its not very often you find something this old and in this condition. There’s a new owner and its a good start for her really.

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“I discovered it while I was doing some renovation work because the sign outside really was quite rotten - and then I find apparently it’s around 120 years old.”

Long before current licensee Tina Delaysee set up shop, the former business was in hot water with the council. H.W Hale had been bootlegging cider from Somerset to sell through the bakery, and the authorities stopped his license.

It is thought that Mr Hale’s business was in full swing 120 years ago, when he was a household name around Worthing. He would bring his cakes to the Rowlands Road shopfront every week and took his wares to London’s West End by horse and cart.

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