Bottle House Inn

Above photo, date unknown.

Above postcard, circa 1937, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe. At the time this publicity card was produced, the pubwas a tied house, within the estate of Bushell, Watkins & Smith's Black Eagle Brewery, which was well known for its Westerham Ales.

Above card circa 1950, kindly sent by Rory Kehoe, thanks to Keith "Dickie" Daniels.. An advertising postcard for the pub. Telephone: Penshurst 306.

Above showing the reverse of the card.

Above photo 2008 by Nigel Chadwick Creative Commons Licence.

Above sign left, 1986, sign right July 1988.

With thanks from Brian Curtis www.innsignsociety.com.

Above sign left 2016, sign right 2018.

Sussex Agricultural Express 02 December 1893.

SINGULAR APPLICATION. A LICENSE LOST.

Mr. Preston on behalf of Mr. T. Phillips, of the Abbey Brewery, and Mr. Hearn, tenant of the "Bottle House" beerhouse, Penshurst, made an application to the Bench which he described as of an unusual character.

It appeared that Mr. Hearn, the tenant, was a man who was not acquainted with the licensing laws. He omitted to read the notice on his temporary license, and therefore neglected to appear on licensing day to get the license properly transferred to himself from the previous holder. It was not until Supt. Barnes notified him of the fact that he knew he was trading without a license. He asked the Bench to take some steps by granting a further temporary transfer until next licensing day to relieve his client of his embarrassment, otherwise the license would be lost, which would be a very serious matter.

The Chairman:- The Bench can only draw one conclusion from this, and that is that applicant is not a fit and proper person to keep the house. The Bench did not see how they could relieve him.

Mr. Preston said the Bench had power to grant a further temporary license.

The Chairman:- If you read the Act carefully I am afraid you will find they have no power. We should be glad to help you, but we don't see how we can.

Mr. Preston said he could not suggest any other course.

The Chairman, addressing Hearn, said he had brought this upon himself. The Bench did not consider him a fit person to keep the house.

From the https://www.bbc.co.uk. 28 September 2018.

Grenfell fund fraudster's shopping spree with victims' cash.

Jenny McDonagh stole the money while working in finance for Kensington and Chelsea Council and the health service.

A fraudster who stole tens of thousands of pounds from the NHS and a Grenfell Tower victim fund has been jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Jenny McDonagh stole cash while working in finance for the health service and Kensington and Chelsea council.

She holidayed in Dubai and Los Angeles and funded a casino trip using £62,000 meant for the fire's survivors.

McDonagh, 39, previously pleaded guilty to fraud, theft and concealing criminal property charges.

Sentencing her at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday, Judge Robin Johnson told her: "You knew exactly what these funds were for and the importance of them for the residents.

"The scale of your dishonesty in this fraud beggars belief."

McDonagh, who stole the money over a 10-month period, spent £32,000 of it on gambling, racking up around £16,000 in losses.

Trips to Paris and Iceland were bought with pre-paid credit cards, as well as purchases in high street shops.

Prosecuting barrister Benjamin Holt said on Thursday that the money was spent on "frivolous items, for example £48 at Ann Summers".

What did McDonagh buy with her fraudulent credit cards?

After she was arrested on 1 August she continued to use another remaining credit card to spend more money

£534 on various visits to a hair and beauty salon in Sidcup

£199.69 on a booking for two at the Delaunay restaurant in central London

£185 on a pair of Ralph Lauren glasses from Vision Express

£113.63 at the Hippodrome casino in Leicester Square

£109.91 at a Burger and Lobster restaurant

£100 at The "Bottle House Inn" in Kent

£99 on a green dress from Hobbs

£74.99 on food from Selfridges

£55 on shoes from ECCO

£48 at an Anne Summers shop

£26.20 on a taxi

£19.20 on the Thames Clipper

£8.90 at Cineworld

A handbag from John Lewis

Flights to Paris, Reykjavik, Los Angeles and Dubai - one occasion she listed a holiday as a two-week respite break for a genuine victim

£333.60 loaded on to an Oyster card but not used

On Thursday, one of her victims Edward Daffarn, a survivor of the fire, told the court about the impact of the fraud on his community.

He said: "It is like pouring salt on wounds of bereaved residents."

McDonagh, from Abbey Wood, was hired by the west London council in October 2017 to assist with the distribution of money to survivors of the fire, which was meant to be spent by them on accommodation and other essential items.

She took money using pre-paid credit cards intended for five victims of the fire.

The card in Mr Daffarn's name was topped up 17 times and more than £50,000 passed through the account.

While working for the NHS between 2015 and 2016, McDonagh transferred £35,000 from the Medway NHS Foundation, based in Kent, to herself.

McDonagh is the seventh person to be jailed for fraud offences relating to the Grenfell disaster which claimed the lives of 72 people on 14 June last year.

From the https://www.kentlive.news By Mary Harris, 15 Oct 2026.

A 15th century pub near Tunbridge Wells secures approval for hotel rooms to ensure survival.

The gorgeous pub in a village near Tunbridge Wells will add accommodation to help protect its future.

The Bottle House Inn in Penshurst - file photo, with the sign having now changed to six distinctive blue bottles and benches added outside (Image: Geograph).

The owners of a "much-valued" 15th century pub near Tunbridge Wells which is currently closed and "facing a serious viability issue", have secured planning permission to convert the first and second floors to hotel accommodation.

White-weatherboarded The Bottle House Inn in Smarts Hill near Penhurst, six miles from the town, shut in February with some residents asking why on social media.

The free house in Coldharbour Road, with a stunning copper-topped bar, low beams and open fires, was popular with locals and visitors, and it employed six full-time and 13 part-time staff, and four students during the holidays.

But the viability of the pub, which has a sunny front terrace, was a "constant problem" and under the current conditions it wasn't possible to carry on without making changes to the business, said the owners of the pub, Alexander Aiken and David Ross. The "characterful and high quality" guest accommodation would add a new income stream, they said.

Through their planners CLM, they said the food offer had already been "full exploited" and despite being a well-known and popular pub with food, it could "not meet the rise in costs and stay open".

These costs include energy, food, and employment, and they also cited the drop in business rates relief in 2025 from 75per cent to 40 per cent "more than doubling bills for most pubs".

"Independents such as The Bottle House Inn can not rely on the support available to those owned by large pub chains. Further, those in rural locations are vulnerable to changes in consumer habits and a lack of constant footfall, said CLM in its 19-page design and access statement.

According to the Kent pub website Dover-Kent Archives, although the building dates from 1492, its name arises from the unearthing of a vast amount of ancient glassware during work on an extension in 1935.

The Bottle House Inn proposed first floor alternations.

The Bottle House Inn proposed first floor alternations. (Image: Studio Bloom Architecture + Design).

The text says:- Internal reconfiguration to create four new guest rooms.

Creation of a protected stairwell through the introduction of a new partition wall and fire door.

Relocation of existing fire door.

Provision of new staircase to access the proposed second floor above.

Sevenoaks District Council approved the proposals, which will include adding a dormer at the second floor. Creating six guest suites will "adapt and expand" the inn, with the aim of sustaining the business for the long term when it reopens, said the 15-page council report. One of the rooms will have kitchen facilities, while the others solely bedroom and washroom facilities.

There will be a "slightly reduced scale" of food and drink at the inn, as the 16-seater private dining room on the first floor, called The Captain's Cabin with Tudor beams and a wood burning stove, will be lost. The pub's ground floor space will also be smaller, said the council report.

Most of the work is internal, with the building being reconfigured so that four bedrooms can be created on the first floor, and two on the second floor.

The owners said due to trading conditions, the pub had already been running for fewer hours, closing on Mondays, Tuesdays and Sunday evenings. They said there was no room on the site to extend for guest accommodation, but there was the opportunity to make fuller use of the upper floors.

The Bottle House Inn in Penshurst - the second floor plan.

The Bottle House Inn in Penshurst - the second floor plan(Image: Studio Bloom Architecture + Design).

The text says:- Internal reconfiguration to create two new guest suits.

Provision of a new staircase to access the proposed second floor.

Proposed dormer over new stair to allow for daylight and adequate head-height to proposed stair.

Penshurst Parish Council supported the conversion, saying in one part: "As well as providing local employment, The Bottle House is popular with both local residents and visitors.

The proposed addition of visitor accommodation should help to ensure that this popular hostelry can re-open soon and can continue as a much-valued local amenity for many years to come."

Parking at The Bottle House, which includes a 17-space customer and nine-space staff main car park, will not change. Parking also includes a layby under the pub's control, but it seems this is found to be useful by others, as the report says "(it) appears to be used for local walking and recreational purposes and therefore not always fully available for pub/restaurant users".

The CLM report said in its conclusion: "The proposal responds to a serious viability issue common to UK pubs. All avenues relating to food and drink having been explored and with a restricted site, the owners are prepared to invest in the conversion of the upper two floors to 6 high quality and characterful guest rooms."

In around 1937, a trading postcard shows the pub was tied to the Black Eagle Brewery, well known for its Westerham Ales.

KentLive has contacted Messrs Aiken and Ross via CLM to ask when the pub will reopen.