The Street

St Nicholas at Wade

Birchington

Sun Inn at St. Nicholas at Wade, 2010.

It is possible that a hostelry existed on the site of the present "Sun Inn" as long ago as the 18th century.

Builder and Thatcher Stephen Wales opened a beer shop in a dormer-windowed cottage on the site in 1850's.

By 1862 the building was known as the Sun Inn.#

The present "Sun Inn" was built around 1900 by the now defunct East Kent brewery. The Restaurant at the rear was built on the site of a 16th Century granary.

There is an unsubstantiated story of a court martial staged in the pub during the first world war, which resulted in the convicted man being executed in the garden at the back. The village was teeming with soldiers during the war, but as yet the story has not been verified.

A person who is researching the Keeler family says that their grandmother mentioned an incident that happened at the pub to a soldier who shot himself while cleaning his rifle when he was billeted at the pub during WW1. The lady was 8 years old at the time and unfortunately no longer with us to gain further information from. Further information from another person says there was a bullet hole in it many years ago.

LICENSEE LIST

WALES Stephen 1850s (beer shop)

MILES Robert Henry 1899+

KEELER David George 1918-22+

KIMBER Mrs Ada 1930-38+

???? Martin & Katherine 2011+

From the Kelly's Directory 1899

From the Post Office Directory 1918

From the Post Office Directory 1922

From the Post Office Directory 1930

From the Kelly's Directory 1934

From the Post Office Directory 1938