The Sussex World has claimed that Cuckfield’s White Harte Inn is occasionally reported to have a ghost. So Cuckfield Connections has been trying to track down the original source of these reports.
The White Hart is described by Cuckfield Conservation Area Appraisal of 2006 as 'a 17th century timber- framed coaching inn with three bays refronted with a further bay and a projecting tile-hung gable added in 1881. It is also reputed to be built on the site of two 14th century cottages. Anne Buck in a Cuckfield Society publication adds that 'parts of the White Harte were built in the 13th century - that makes it over 700 years old - and the central beam is a whole oak tree trunk.'
The Sussex Express has reported it to be 'the home to a spectral figure. It has been sighted on a number of occasions, gliding from the main door towards the kitchen at the back'.
All these mentions may refer to the Paranormal Database which records a 'haunting manifestation' in 2008 reporting 'that a phantom figure has been spotted in this inn, moving from the front door towards the kitchen area.'
Anyone spotting any interesting spirits - please ask them to give us a call - once sober.
Sources
Sussex World 'From Ghostly going-ons in the folklore of Mid Sussex' 8 June 2018
Paranormal Database: https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/sussex/suspages/sussdata.php?pageNum_paradata=9&totalRows_paradata=330&totalRows
Photo and manipulation by the author.
Contributed by Malcolm Davison.