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Home > Sussex > Bury > Black Dog & Duck

Black Dog & Duck

Date of photo: 1905

Picture source: Alan Dawes


The Black Dog & Duck was a grade-II listed building situated on The Street. I lived here from 1959 through 1966, when my mother Barbara Joan Kneller died. She was the life and soul of the pub and was a leading light in the Licensed Victuallers. The building was originally a couple of farm labourer’s cottages and started when cider was sold to the “Navigators” building, firstly the Arun canal and later the Southern Railway across the nearby Amberly Wild Brooks. I remember the remains of the cider apple press and visited the apple orchard near the local church.

I have several photographs and a video captured from TV showing Sir John Barbarolli and Kathleen Ferrier outside the old wooden public bar. In my time this had been replaced by a brick structure. There was a small saloon bar, a public bar and a tap room, where darts were played. The main game in the public bar was cribbage. All beer was drawn from the wood until the arrival of Watney’s Red Barrel in about 1961. Tamplins owned the property and had a monopoly of supply. We served meals in our dining room and a later owner discovered a large inglenook fireplace hidden behind plaster board.

In about 2000 the pub was closed and sold as a private residence. Half the land was sold and a new house built. The old pub was completely refurbished to luxury levels, complete with a swimming pool!

Richard Kneller

Listed building details:
Public house. L-shaped C17 or earlier timber-framed building with plaster infilling, partly refaced with stone rubble, the north-east wing flints with red brick dressings and quoins. Roof partly thatched, partly tiled, partly slates with pentice on north side. Casement windows. Two storeys. Two windows to each front.

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Contacts
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Name Dates Comments
Michael Pearce 1955/1950 Pub owned by my mothers family (Henley) and I as was my mother born in the pub. My mothers sister and husband ran the pub for many years after the war his name was George Richards. I think the pub went out of the family in 50 or early 60.
Chris Peters 1960/1987 My Uncle, Alan Adam-Smith and his wife Gladys "Glad" (my mother's sister) ran the Dog and Duck together until Alan's death in 1985. Glad continued until about 1987 when her own ill-health forced her to retire. They originally had two Labrador Retrievers, Mandy and Honey, with Mandy matching the Inn Sign.
Jonathan Ferguson 1994 I lived in a tent in the beer garden of the Black Dog and Duck for two weeks while excavating at Bignor Roman Villa, washing up in the men's room in the outbuilding. My neighbour in the garden was a Royal Marine from Hove. I even received mail there! Coming from Canada, the Black Dog and Duck will always be the the quintessential rural English pub in my mind, and I was very disappointed to learn that it's no longer a public house.

Other Photos

Picture source: David Fisher