Time Gentleman Please at Steyning Museum

Opening on Thursday, August 30, the Time Gentleman Please exhibition will explore the four beer houses of Steyning, and admission is free.

Under The Beer Act 1830, a licence cost two guineas and, if approved, allowed the owner to brew their own beer and serve food but not spirits. The establishments were called beer houses and the act was not repealed until 1993.

The Soldiers Return, in Charlton Street, was run by Charles and Fanny Belchamber before it closed in 1957.

There will be a photograph on display, as well as a copy of a ticket to the annual supper on September 20, 1913.

Andrew Woodfield, curator of exhibitions, said: “We have documentation to confirm that the supper was cooked in the same copper as the ‘smalls’ were boiled in.”

The Railway Inn, in Jarvis Lane, closed in 1910 but the exhibition will feature modern pictures of the interior, which still has some of the original fittings.

The Jolly Plowman, also Charlton Street, was owned by Steyning Breweries and closed after the First World War.

Andrew said: “lt was put up for sale by auction after the Steyning Brewery fire. We have a photograph of the landlords Levy and Jane West.”

The Brewers Arms, in Church Street, closed in 1908 and is now the reception for Steyning Grammar School’s lower school.

Andrew said: “We have a copy of the original plans, dated 1910, when this property was converted. Apart from The Brewers Arms, the other premises are now residential.”

Visit www.steyningmuseum.org.uk for more information.

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