For many years, the area around these premises was the site of the Merchant Taylor’s Convalescent Home. Surrounded by trees and high walls, the home was demolished in the 1950s to make way for the new Queensway shopping area. This pub is named after Sir Richard Hotham, an 18th-century property developer who turned Bognor into a seaside resort. The former hatter’s apprentice purchased around 1,600 acres of land in Bognor for his new seaside resort.

Illustrations and text about the founder of Bognor Regis

The text reads: Born in York in 1722, Richard Hotham was apprenticed as a hatter in London. He appears to have married the daughter of his employer in 1743, and set up his own business selling hats in 1746. His business flourished, and he moved the prestigious premises and became a member of the East India Company with four ships under his control. He was knighted in 1869 and became an MP in 1780.

His health began to decline, so in 1784 he came to stay in Bognor at the home of one of his ship captains. He subsequently returned and bought some land. Finding Bognor earth particularly suitable for brick-making, Hotham began to build here, converting a farmhouse into a ‘commodious mansion’ in 1787. This is taken as the date of the founding of Bognor as a resort, and celebrated on 18 January.

Hotham went on to acquire 1,600 acres. He bought Hothampton Place and East Row, overlooking what is now Waterloo Square. He also bought the Fox Inn and turned it into a seafront hotel, at the end of West Street. In the 1790s, Hotham built his new home, Chapel House, next to his original mansion, and it was here that he died, on 13 March 1799, with his dreams for Bognor still in the development stage.

A print of Richard Hotham

A photograph of High Street, Bognor, c1920

External photograph of the building – main entrance