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  YOU ARE IN: PUBS

Historic Crown Inn Seriously Damaged by Lightning, petrol explosion narrowly avoided.
SPECIAL photo section

A Lightning strike caused the fire which seriously damaged the historic Crown Inn in Horsted Keynes. Dating back to at least the 16th century the Crown has been at the heart of our village ever since.
It is believed that lightning struck a power line shortly after 3pm on the 1 July 2003 causing a fire in the roof timbers of the pub which smouldered for some time before breaking out in several places in the roof at once. At one time there were 17 fire vehicles including the forces' major incident vehicle on and around the village green.
Right beside the Crown is the village garage where hundreds of gallons of petrol are stored. Had the lightning hit just a few feet over then the heart of the village might have been torn out!
Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident..

Especially for former residents who might like to see some more of the general fire scene we have uploaded a special page here.


Our two and a half/three pubs!

We have labelled this section "Our two and a half pubs" for ages, recently however we have been reminded of the second "half pub" in the parish which is of course on platform 3 at Horsted Keynes station! In fact this old fashioned buffet bar even had a perminant resident in the last census of the 19th century so perhaps we should up rate it to a full pub! We will stick with giving The Royal British Legion a half point (because it isn't open for full pub times) to make the total three full pubs in all!
 


The Crown Inn

One of two pubs on the village green, The Crown has been an inn for more than 250 years and the building probably dates back to around 1600.  On a personal note it was in The Crown that I started my "Mobile Discotheque" (they were not called discos then!) career on my 18th birthday almost 50 years ago! That was in the back room every Thursday night. If you were one of the regulars at that disco I would love to hear from you again.

More information at the web site www.thecrownhorstedkeynes.co.uk


The Green Man

Visitors to The Bluebell Railway should certainly take a look into The Green Man on the Northern side of the green directly opposite its competitor. Said to be built on the site of an old workhouse the village stocks were sited for many years on the green at the front. no doubt so that villagers could get a drink to taunt the poor inhabitant! This pub features many railway relics on its walls and bar. There is also a nice restaurant.

The Green Man web site

 


The Royal British Legion

Sitting just round the corner from the Post Office is The Royal British Legion Club. Here members can enjoy reduced price drinks, a full size snooker and pool tables, and "real" fruit machines. Part of the building was used by the home guard during the war. The home guards main drill hall was above the old butchers shop and the present village shop. If you have any wartime photos that we could use on this site please let us know. Thank you.    www.britishlegion.org.uk

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© February 2022 We own copyright or have permission to use every picture and all the text on this site. Almost all our pictures may be downloaded for personal use only, while many may be right clicked to be seen in best resolution.   You may not copy our pictures or text onto public media or another web site without our specific permission which will not be unreasonably refused as long as you ask first! Once bitten, twice shy, so we will pursue this policy by law if necessary. Please see "What I can and can't do with your pictures". You can contact the site at webmaster@horstedkeynes.com.