About Us

Here is just a little info to let you get to know us better...

History

Here is a little potted history of our pub and the local area... if you have a spare minute or two and maybe a cup of tea (or is that a G&T), we think it's well worth a read.

The White Hart at Chipstead was built in 1731, during the reign of George II.

The legend

A 'hart' is a male deer or stag, but the white hart took on a mythical quality through its association with Herne the Hunter (pronounced 'Ern the 'unter ).

Herne worked for Richard II in Windsor forest, but was fatally injured while defending the king against a cornered white stag. A local wizard restored him to health but, in return, Herne was forced to give up his hunting skills and eventually through frustration and disappointment hanged himself from an oak tree near the castle. Richard II subsequently adopted the White Hart as his crest.

Here is a detail from a portrait of
Richard 11 painted around 1306,
The Wilton Diptych, showing him wearing
a brooch with a white hart emblem

King Richard's White Hart had golden antlers and a golden crown around its neck with a gold chain hanging from the crown. Heraldically, the Hart symbolises peace and harmony, the White denoting purity.

In 1389 Richard passed an Act making it compulsory for pubs and inns to have a sign outside in order to identify them to the official Ale Taster, "otherwise he shall forfeit his ale." Consequently, a great many pubs were named "The White Hart", after Richard II's own heraldic emblem.

Chipstead

The pretty village of Chipstead sits on high ground on the North Downs surrounded by woods. The name 'Chipstead' has been subject to various spellings throughout history with Tepestede, Chepestede, and Schipsted all shown in historical records. The name is likely to have been derived from the old English word ceapstede, meaning the 'market place'.

From the earliest times, Chipstead was blessed with a number of substantial ponds, which would have made it an attractive stopping off point for herdsman taking their livestock to London. These were first noted in the 7th and 8th centuries.

Domesday book

The Domesday survey of 1086 tells us that the principal manor of Chipstead was held by Richard of Tonbridge, whose descendants became Earls of Gloucester. There seems never to have been a resident Lord of the Manor until the 17th and 18th centuries when the manor was held by the Lords of Upper Gatton and subsequently by the Lords of Merstham.

The Village Fair

Chipstead has an annual Village Fair, first recorded in Edward VI's reign in 1549 and held on St.Margaret's day. It may originally have been a large cattle fair held on Church Green, and was subsequently moved to Fair Green near Shabden as a sheep fair.

In the early centuries annual village fairs were of considerable importance and attracted large numbers of people. Cattle and sheep farmers would travel long distances in search of suitable livestock and the ordinary people would find goods and services unavailable elsewhere.

To Flourishing Times

The village remained an isolated rural parish until the late nineteenth century. There was a small amount of industry in the parish: indeed, at one time there were two water mills that were used to grind tobacco into snuff, but it was the opening of Tattenham Corner railway station that led to a prolonged period of development. The rise of the railway led to the construction of a number of mansions built for successful City businessmen, so planting the seeds for the Chipstead which exists today.

Second World War

Due to its proximity to London, Chipstead suffered consiserable bomb damage during the second world war. Altogether, as recorded on a stone on Church Green, there fell upon Chipstead in World War II two parachute mines, some 450 high explosive bombs, 12 V1 flying bombs and one V2 rocket, besides innumerable incendiaries.

Perhaps the most spectacular achievement of the Chipstead community in World War II was the factory organized in the Peter Aubertin Hall. On the 19th June 1940 Mrs Neame of Sopers Cottage and Mrs Brooks of Merstham (a member of staff at the Royal School of Needlework) began training Chipstead women in the art of covering aircraft wings, ailerons and rudders with fabric, and in the production of lifejackets. To the end of 1944, the Chipstead Aero Supply Co had completed over 100 airframe unit components and 12,449 lifejackets.

(With thanks to the Chipstead Village Society)

If you'd like to put a name to a face, allow us to introduce you to the crew...


Front of house

Lauren

Manager

Lauren joined us straight out of completing a music degree in Chichester. She's rescued a little pup from Croatia called Flynn and he is set to be our Pub Dog joining us on our monthly walks before retiring to his bed in the office. Lauren has been in hospitality most of her working life, originally joining us when we first opened The Horse and Groom in Twyford as bar staff. Working hard she moved on up to be the Assistant Manager, then she took up post at The Duke of York. She left us for a spell to manage a speciality coffee shop in London but soon came back with oodles of coffee knowledge to pass on to the team here.

Claudette

Deputy Manager

Claudette's been here, there, and everywhere. Starting out in the pubs and restaurants of Tunbridge Wells, Kent. She then became Deputy Manager at The Nevill Crest and Gun before taking over at The Bailiwick then settled here at The White Hart. She took a year out on maternity leave as she is now a proud mother to her little boy Freddie. She is a massive fan of the TV show Friends, has two cats, and a lover of all things Pinot Noir. If you ever want to bribe her, there's three ideas for you!

Zoe

Supervisor

Zoe has been with the White Hart for 4 years through university where she studied prosthetic makeup for film. Since she graduated she has now become part of our management team as supervisor, but you'll find her on her days off working on short films with her brush belt and a bit of makeup glue in a field somewhere. One day we'll see her name in Hollywood!

Abi

Bar/Waiting

"I'm currently a student studying magazine publishing while also being able to work part time. I'm really interested in fashion and reading and love picking up a Vogue magazine whenever I'm out! I'm also very keen on travelling and have already done a couple of interrailing trips around Eruope in the past few years, it's truly an eye opening experience and I can't wait to see more!"

Linda

Bar/Waiting

"I have worked here for nearly 3 years as a part time waitress and I love it at the White Hart. It gives me time to do the other things I love like cooking, entertaining friends and family and enjoying good food and drink. I also love scrabble and crosswords. I get the best of both worlds on Quiz night at the pub where my little dog Stitch is always made welcome."

Adriana

Bar/Waiting

Adriana has been with us for over a year now, she joined us in her gap year to build her knowledge and confidence in the hospitality sector. Her next goal is to start acting as this is where she feels most confident. You will often find Adriana on her days off playing netball or finding any excuse to go to concerts or gigs with her friends or sister.

Sunny

Supervisor

Hello! My name's Sunny, I'm 22 years old, non-binary, and a supervisor here at the White Hart. In my free time you can find me on a walk, at the gym, practicing Spanish, or simply daydreaming about my next travel opportunity! I'm a very sociable person and I love to make people laugh, so I'll grab any opportunity to hang out with friends, especially if there's live music involved!


Kitchen

Martin

Head Chef

Introducing Martin, our wonderful Head Chef!

Martin has a background of working huge wedding parties at Farnham Castle. His passion for food means there is always something new on our menu, keeping our customers and crew happy. We are always excited to see what he's cooking up next. Martin is always coaching the rest of his team and building confidence in their own chef abilities. It helps he's got a winning smile!

When Martin isn't cooking up a storm for us he's looking after his two boys and lovely wife.

Make sure to keep an eye out for new dishes coming on the menu from Martin each week.


Maintenance

James

Kitchen Porter

James came to us to do some work experience and simply never left. He is extremely polite and always has time to ask how you are. James enjoys watching films, playing computer games and going on trips with his family.

Richard

Gardener/Maintenance Person

Rich is a jack of all trades and can turn his hand to pretty much anything. When he is not gardening or tending to one of the jobs on our ever expanding 'to do' list, he is promoting live music at the local club and repairing computers. He does manage to find time to have a few jars of an evening too, of course.