The Fountain Inn ... Ashurst
Telephone 01403 710219 · Map · Reviews
OS Map : Landranger 187 · Map reference TQ 180 161
Description
Dating from the 16th century, the Fountain Inn is a free house comprising several small bar areas with flagstone floors, wooden beams and inglenook fireplace. Good choice of beers include Fullers, Harveys and two other guest beers. There are attractive gardens with pond - and a skittle alley and function room in a separate building at the front of the pub.
Update: July 2011. The pub is under new ownership and is now children-friendly.
Some years ago, the pub was used by Paul McCartney to film this video for his song "Wonderful Christmastime."
Pub picture: Wikipedia Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0
How to get there
By car
Ashurst is between Henfield and Ashington, on the B2135 south of Partridge Green.
Cycling
The best off road route is to pick up the Downs Link bridleway at Southwater or Copsale and cycle south. At Partridge Green, turn right on to the B2135 [the bridleway crosses this road] and continue for 2 miles [3.2 km] and the pub is on the left.
On road - mainly quiet roads, from Horsham, cycle to Mannings Heath on the A281 and turn right at Monk's Gate to Nuthurst. Continue through the village for 2.2 miles [ 3.6 km] to the A272. Cross straight over the crossroads and follow this road through Littleworth to Partridge Green. Turn left on to the B2135, going south, and continue as above.
Visit the White Horse at Maplehurst on the way back.
Suggested cycling routes from here
Cycle south to pick up the Downs Link again at Steyning and then on to the coast. It's about 50 miles round trip from Horsham, so you need to be a regular cyclist to do this, but it's great to sit on the beach with an ice cream!
Your reviews
The Fountain Inn There are 17 customer reviews with an average rating of
Disclaimer: All reviews and ratings on this website are personal opinions by pub-goers. Horsham Pub Guide publishes comments at our editorial discretion but we are not responsible for comments made.
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Came to lunch and was told it would take 30 mins. That turned out to be 1 hr 20 mins and less than a handful of chips. For such a simple meal!
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Had lunch today, waited 90 minutes for it to arrive (a simple burger). It beats around an hour a previous time I was here. My best advice is to go somewhere else. Was much better when run by the previous management.
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Some close friends and I have been checking out pubs that serve Sunday Roasts in the Horsham area - with some very mixed results. However, the Fountain met and exceeded all of our expectations. The pub was very busy (usually a good sign) but despite this the staff were polite and very attentive. The roast beef was fabulous, vegetables were perfect and the roast potatoes crunchy on the outside but divinely fluffy on the inside. The price was on the high side but worth every penny. Well done all! We will be back soon.
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Atmosphere and service excellent. Food disappointing. Ham and Emmental sandwich for about £6.00! Should have been overflowing with ham and cheese and maybe in decent bread. I've had better looking sandwiches from a supermarket for a couple of £s.
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Brilliant! Great atmosphere, love the inglenook fireplace, so cavernous try and take a look up the chimney when you're there. Warm, friendly and great food. Was a bit noisy when a table of 7 children started making too much noise, but this is not the pub's fault. I agree that this is not the best place to bring children, it's too small for their needs and they also ruin the quiet nature of the place. Will def be going back!
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After reading the reviews I was wary but a friend suggested so I went along. The garden was beautiful, the service efficient and friendly and the smoked salmon and crayfish salad a delight. I don't know why people have been giving such poor reviews.
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Great little pub, used to go there on a Fri after work, with Corine and Kev for a few quiets!
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Four of us came for Sunday lunch and had roast lamb at £13.50 which is really too dear. We waited 50 mins and were told it wouldn't be long, it was approx. another 10 mins. Meal not hot, potatoes not fresh but warmed up, sprouting broccoli not cooked, very over priced. Poor quality service and food, cheaper and better food in lots of other local pubs.
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Eighteen members of Ashington Rambling Club had their lunch here last Monday (11 Jul 11). None of us could fault the meals or the service we received. In all areas we can only describe this pub as Excellent. Fortunately also, it was a lovely day so we enjoyed our lunches in the lovely garden.
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This pub has just been taken over by Whites of Steyning so we thought we would give it a go for lunch. Quite frankly, will never return as the open steak sandwich I ordered was raw and the cheese and onion sandwich my wife had was served with (what seemed to be) sliced white bread from a supermarket. I could have gone to a Beefeater for a better meal.
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Been going here for several years. Now under new management with limited menu and have waited just under an hour on the last two visits for our Fountain Burgers to arrive, and even then arriving without our complete order. We're very sorry to have to leave this pub and find somewhere else.
Older reviews
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Absolutely brilliant. Wonderful food and a great evening of skittles. We went as part of an anniversary party of 16 on Saturday evening, 8th May, and we were looked after so well. We will return, time and again, providing the new management maintain the extremely high standards they have set themselves.
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Four of us visited at lunchtime on Sat 30th April 2011. Lovely sunny day. The pub had reopened on 21st April (new management?). Barbecue on the forecourt with good meat and fish choices and a couple of veggie options. The food was excellent and the Harveys (as always) was great. Helpful staff. A nice way to spend an hour or more.
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Regular Sunday lunch customer in West Sussex. Went here for Sunday lunch today 30/01/11. Disappointed in meal. Pork was so thin it appeared to have been cut on a bacon slicer and warmed up on the day. Vegetables were portion packed, altogether disappointing. Oh well, I know what to do next time, go somewhere else.
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Having found this pub in the Michelin Eating Out in Pubs Guide, it looked interesting and there was no mention of a No Children Policy in that guide. We were hoping to have a nice Sunday lunch with our very well-behaved 7 year old daughter but having sold us the drinks, we were then told that she could not eat in the restaurant, but we could go across the yard and sit in a cold barn all on our own! The staff were unapologetic so we reluctantly paid for the drinks and left to have a very nice lunch with a friendly welcome in Steyning.
In these hard commercial times, to not allow children in the restaurant for Sunday lunch is totally unreasonable in my opinion. We will certainly not return to this establishment and we will tell our friends and contacts not to patronise it either. Hopefully, they will have a change of attitude in future as it seems a nice building.
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My wife and I arrived on 22 September 2010, a nice sunny day, with the intention of having lunch with my daughter, whose 30th birthday it was, her husband and their 15 month old son. When we asked if we could have a high chair we were informed, in a most unfriendly manner that "We don't cater for children here!" Needless to say, we walked out - and went to the Bull in Henfield instead. We respect that some pubs will not have highchairs and/or would not want children in the bar area but we were surprised by their attitude when we wanted to eat in the garden! Had the response been that they regretted that they did not have a highchair we would have used the baby's pushchair and thought no more of it. The added indication that children were not welcome led to our leaving. We will be telling all our friends of the pub's apparent attitude to children in the garden. On the plus side it is nice to know that the Fountain is doing so well that it can afford to discriminate.......
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We ordered simply sandwiches and chips. Dry bread missing some ingredients. We were overcharged and chips were mediocre. Disappointing.
Pub score - No Good · - Excellent
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