THE DOLPHIN HOTEL

Web master: Helen Boiling

helenboiling@dolphin-littlehampton.co.uk

ABOUT US

As you step inside this historic building, it as if you are stepping back in time. There is no jukebox and most of our music is from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. There is a wonderful sense of “home” when you walk through the doors and the atmosphere, the simple decor and the courteous service will remind you of a bygone era.In fact visitors and regulars alike have gathered around a drink at The Dolphin for near on 300 years. Come in and be part of our history.

WE SERVE GREAT FOOD HERE

Take time to peruse their amazing memorabilia areas, go back in time with Elvis Presley, The fated Titanic and WW1 and WW2.

Not only will you step back in time at The Dolphin but you may well also have contact with their resident “ghosts”.........

WE HAVE A FULLY STOCKED BAR WITH STELLA AS OUR PREMIUM LAGERS AS WELL AS CARLSBERG / COLD, CARLING COLD, AND FOSTERS. WE HAVE 3 REAL ALES- IPA BOONDOGGLE & DOOMBAR AND JOHN SMITHS EXTRA SMOOTH AS OUR BITTERS. OUR DRAUGHT CIDERS ARE STRONGBOW AND THATHCHER GOLD AND WE HAVE MAGNERS & MAGNERS PEAR IN BOTTLES, AS WELL AS KOPPERBURG. WE HAVE PLENTY OF SOFT DRINK OPTIONS FOR NON DRINKERS AND DRIVERS AS WELL AS FRUIT SHOOTS FOR KIDS. WE STOCK  OTHER TEMPTING TIPPLES!

PIANO SING A LONGS

EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

12 NOON - 2PM

WE ALSO HAVE BED AND BREAKFAST FROM £25

REAL LOG FIRES IN THE WINTER

The original site  on which this fine old building stands dates back to 1735, and it was originally a olde time “convenience store” where people would come from all over the town to buy their wears. The  present Dolphin public house came about a few years later when 2 local brothers who owned the original Dolphin public house just across the road, had a severe and grave falling out. One of the brothers upped and left and took over the convenience store and turned it into a pub too, he called his new pub The Dolphin!. So there were two Dolphins and someone had to back down. After years of bickering one of them did back down, so was born The Dolphin public house that we see today. The other brother called his pub “The Swan”.

The Great poet LORD BYRON stayed at The Dolphin between August 20th - 30th 1806. He wrote many letters from here of which we have copies. On the occasion of his visit he tethered his horses in The Dolphin stables just behind the hotel and went for a swim in the River Arun, he nearly did not return because he nearly drowned. He was 17 , and although he died at a very young age anyway, he wrote most of his best poems in his early 20s, so we would have missed out on a great talent. His beloved  black and white dog “Boatswain” came with him on his visit and people today say they can sometimes see a little black and white dog running around the bar ( we don’t allow dogs in ) and it just disappeared by the pool table!!!

TOP MIDDLE, THE DOLPHIN IN 1887

LORD BYRON

Mark Emery is also a keen local historian and writer. He has just completed a modest piece of research which proves that Lord Byron, the infamous poet and bohemian, once stayed at The Dolphin Inn at Littlehampton in West Sussex.

Lord Byron and The Dolphin Inn Littlehampton gives detailed information concerning how Byron came to be in Littlehampton in the summer of 1806 and lists letters and documents that place him in the town and staying at The Dolphin Inn.

Lord Byron and The Dolphin Inn Littlehampton

Introduction

There is more than meets the eye to The Dolphin pub in the centre of Littlehampton. The board outside will inform the reader that Lord Byron, the infamous English poet, once described as “Mad, bad and dangerous to know” by his lover Lady Caroline Lamb, is reputed to have stayed there.

One day, walking through Littlehampton town centre and being of a curious nature, I ventured in to ask Ellie Boiling, landlady of The Dolphin, about this claim. On the question of Lord Byron having once stayed at The Dolphin, there was at the time of my initial visit, no conclusive evidence, just a brief mention in Littlehampton In Old Photographs by Iris Jones and Daphne Stanford.

A little research though has uncovered a wealth of detail, which when put together confirms that Lord George Gordon Byron, stayed at The Dolphin Inn Littlehampton in the summer of 1806. There are published letters written by Byron that confirm the date and location of Littlehampton. There is also an unpublished manuscript, written by Henry Long, who knew Byron personally and who met him during his Littlehampton holiday. This manuscript now held at the New York Public Library and used by Leslie Marchand in his three-volume biography of Byron, records The Dolphin Inn as Byron’s choice of accommodation, in preference to the Beach House Hotel, which used to stand close to Littlehampton sea front.

Mark Emery ~ 26th of August 2006

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