This Inn takes its sign from the arms of the Sackvilles, Earls of Dorset, whose seat at Buckhurst Park is close by.
The house dates from Queen Elizabeth’s reign (1558 – 1603), and was originally a farm house known as “Somers”. By the 18th century it had become an Inn, known at first as The Ale House.
It contains many interesting features of Tudor and later periods. The massive wall and ceiling beams are Elizabethan workmanship; so is the blocked-up window with carved stone mullions and transoms, to be seen by the outside steps leading to the cellar. The staircase is Georgian and was probably added when the old farm house was converted to an Inn.
Close by Withyham is Penn’s Rocks, at one time the home of members of the Family of William Penn, founder of the State of Pennsylvania.
