The Shipwrights Arms, Southwick - Once a House of Repute in Sussex

The Shipwrights Arms was on the north side of Albion Street (A259), at No. 107, at the west corner with Rock Road opposite Southwick Town Hall. According to Southwick local historian Ted Heasman, from whom the photograph was originally obtained, the Public Bar was accessed from Albion Street and the door to the Saloon Bar was on Rock Road.

The photograph shows it when it also had a corner entrance and was advertising Worthington’s Pale and Strong Ales, Reid’s Stout and bottled Bass. It was a Kemp Town Brewery pub by the early 1930s.

The first recorded landlord was William George Crosskey in 1867, probably the year the pub was built. The Post Office Directory also records the following licensees: 1915, James Morley; 1930, Frank Henry Wilshere; 1938, George W Beall. The Shipwrights Arms was demolished c. 1962 in the redevelopment of Southwick, which involved the wholesale loss of many Albion Street properties and slip roads and the construction of a new shopping centre to the north of the A259.

Sources:

Aslett, L. (1998), The Pubs of Southwick Past and Present, Part One, Sussex Drinker, Issue 12 (spring), pp. 12-14.

Heasman, W. A. (2009), Memories of Southwick and Kingston Buci, Southwick: Southwick Society.

Directory of Pubs in the UK, historical public houses, Taverns, Inns, Beer Houses and Hotels, http://pubshistory.com/SussexPubs/Brighton/ShipwrightsArms.shtml

Anchor Springs Yard Arm

Undoubtedly my favourite real ale from this Littlehampton brewery, it is sad to report that the brewing of Yard Arm has been indefinitely suspended. This seasonal, speciality beer, 4.3% ABV, 1046° OG, appeared with considerably success at regional beer festivals, but brewery owner Kevin Jenkins never really saw it fit comfortably within his pub portfolio of best-sellers.

That is probably why I have no permanent pump clip image to offer.

In the interest of recording Yard Arm for posterity, it was brewed in the autumn and winter months using Pale, Crystal, Amber and Chocolate malts. Target was the bittering hop, EKG in the middle, Cascade and Fuggles were used for aroma with vanilla pods added to the boil.


Dark copper-coloured and full-bodied, well-balanced between vanilla sweetness and bitter chocolate, this complex beer had a pronounced yet subtle vanilla end note at the back of the mouth.