The Sir Roger Tichborne Free House

Welcome to The Sir Roger Tichborne

The Sir Roger Tichborne has seen and undergone many changes since first it was named in 1873. An attractive timber-framed country pub, the northern part of which dates back to the late medieval period. It is situated in Alfold Bars and is a well known local landmark, overlooking the open fields of northwest Sussex. The new owners have lovingly restored and refurbished The Sir Roger Tichborne incorporating the values of traditional pub hospitality with an updated warm rustic atmosphere.

Walk in and you will be welcomed by logs crackling in the hearth, a friendly well stocked bar with an extensive range of wines and beers on tap. You won’t want to leave!

The stunning new dining room offers home made food, using locally sourced produce as much as possible. The dining room has an impressive patio area where you can have a relaxing lunch or simply a chilled beer, step inside and dine in style enjoying the endless countryside views. With the owners’ passion for excellent food, the menu is up to the minute, food they know you will enjoy.

In the summer the large south-west facing garden is a place to watch the sun go down whilst relaxing over a glass or two!

We have a wide range of drinks from real ales and excellent fine wines, to hot beverages and fresh fruit juices.
Five hand pumped Ales: Youngs Ordinary, Langham Sundowner, Wells Bombardier, Arundel ASB and Courage Directors. A variety of guest beers will be available throughout the year.
Two draft lagers: Carlsberg and Kronenbourg, two ciders: Westons Stowford Press and Aspalls, not forgetting a fine pint of Guinness.
Wine lovers can choose from a selection of fine wines many of which are available by the glass. Premium Irish whiskies and a number of Scotch malt whiskies.
Tea, Coffee and refreshing fruit juices are always available or why not try an Irish Coffee after a bracing winter walk.

BAR MENU
Available during lunch & evening service in the bar & restaurant

STARTERS
Soup of the day with crusty bread ~ £5.10
Chicken Liver Pate with granary toast & cranberries ~ £5.45
Filo Wrapped Tiger Prawns with a sweet chilli dipping sauce ~ £5.95

PUB CLASSICS
Chargrilled Sirloin Steak (with or without pepper sauce) chips & a roquette garnish ~ £14.95
The Tichburger 8oz (with or without cheese) served with chips & tomato chutney ~ £9.80
Ham Eggs & Chips served with tart fruit chutney ~ £8.95
Real Ale Battered Fish & Chips with crushed peas & tartare sauce ~ £9.80
Salad of Cajun Spiced Chicken Breast with pineapple & Honey and lemon dressing ~ £9.80
Roasted Vegetable, Mozzarella and Basil, Pasta Rolls with mixed leaves & crusty bread ~ £8.95
Spinach and Feta Bread & Butter Bake Served with a Greek salad ~ £8.95

PLATTERS TO SHARE
The Tichborne Antipasti A selection of sliced cured meats with olives Sun blushed tomatoes & hummus ~ £9.95
Seafood Platter Potted crab, tiger prawns & smoked salmon with watercress & lemon Aioli ~ £9.95
Crisp Potato Skins ~ With Cheese, Bacon & Sour Cream ~ Chilli Con Carne ~
Goats Cheese & roasted red pepper ~ £7.95

SIDE ORDERS

LUNCH TIME MENU
only available during lunchtime service

JACKET POTATOES ~ BAGUETTES
Smoked Salmon & prawn ~ Coronation Chicken ~ Bacon, Cheese, Tomato & Chutney ~ Goats Cheese & roasted red pepper ~ Tuna & Sweetcorn ~ £6.25

PLOUGHMAN'S

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DESSERTS
Please ask your server for today’s selection ~ £4.95

SUNDAY LUNCH
Typically includes roast beef, lamb, pork or chicken, one fish dish and one vegetarian option
Smaller portions available on most dishes.
Please note: Sunday menu varies seasonally.

RESTAURANT MENU (Changes monthly)
Only available during evening service in the restaurant

STARTERS
Baked Breaded Goats Cheese ~ With a beetroot salsa & toasted pine nuts ~ £5.75
Baked Mushroom & Stilton Croutes ~On a fine herb & dressed leaf salad ~ £5.75
Vodka & Garlic Marinated Beef ~ On watercress leaves with a fresh horseradish dressing ~ £6.25
Smoked Mackerel Fillets ~ On toasted Ciabatta with a chive & crème fraiche potato salad ~ £5.95
Filo wrapped Tiger Prawns ~ With a sweet chilli dipping sauce ~ £5.95

MAINS
Pressed Belly of Pork ~ On a bacon & spring onion mash with an apple & pear cider chutney ~ £12.75
Grilled Fillets of Plaice ~ On a rosemary dauphinoise with a chive beurre blanc ~ £12.75
Lime & Coriander marinated Chicken Breast ~ On wilted baby spinach & an almond tabouleh ~ £10.95
Maple glazed Confit of Duck Leg ~ On Cornish new potatoes with a pomegranate & walnut salad ~ £11.95
Sweet Peppers stuffed with Bulgar Wheat ~ On a minestrone verde ~ £8.95

DESSERTS
Please ask your server for today's selection ~ £4.95

TEA/COFFEE
Coffee, Espresso - £1.80
Cappuccino, Latte - £2.10
Tea, Peppermint, Earl Grey - £1.55

Smaller portions available on most dishes.
We source most of our ingredients from local suppliers and growers.
We will not compromise quality in any way.
Fresh meat delivered daily from John Murray, Loxwood, our local independent and family owned butcher.

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The Sir Roger Tichborne is situated half a mile south of Alfold on the B2133, and 2 miles from the junction with the A281 Guildford/ Horsham road.
Click here for Google Map: Then type the postcode reference RH14 0QS

SIR ROGER TICHBORNE 01403 751 873
Opening times:
Bar: All day from 11.30am.
Dining: Monday to Saturday 12pm - 2pm and 7pm - 9pm
Sunday 12pm - 3.30pm
Dogs are welcome on leads.

Parking for approximately 30 cars at the front of the pub.
For walkers and cyclists the pub can be found on the
Ordnance Survey Explorer map 134.

Alfold Bars, Loxwood, Billingshurst ,West Sussex RH14 0QS

Why The Sir Roger Tichborne ?

The sad story of Sir Roger Tichborne, the heir to the Tichborne family estate in Hampshire, was prominent news in 1854. He was lost at sea travelling back home from South America and the events surrounding his death obviously caught the imagination of the new licensee Charles Covey and his associates, thus the new beer house was named The Sir Roger Tichborne a very unconventional name for a public house. The history of Sir Roger Tichborne is a fascinating story.
Heir who disappeared

Sir Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne was born January 5th 1829, in Paris as the eldest son of a baronet and heir to the Roman Catholic Hampshire family of Tichborne. King James I of England had made his ancestor Sir Benjamin Tichborne, sheriff of Southampton, a baronet in 1621. His father was James Francis Doughty-Tichborne and his mother French-born lady Henriette Felicite.

Claimant emerges

On learning the news of her eldest son's death, Sir Roger's mother refused to admit that he was dead. She sent inquiries all over the world, and in November 1865, she received a letter from a Sydney lawyer who claimed that a man supposedly fitting the description of her son was living as a butcher in Wagga Wagga, Australia.

The supposed Sir Roger was actually Arthur Orton, who at the time used the name Tom Castro. Aside from some facial resemblance to Tichborne, he did not fit the description at all. Instead of sharp features and black hair, he had round features and light brown hair. He was also overweight and did not speak a word of French. His first letter referred to facts Lady Tichborne did not recognise. However, Lady Tichborne was desperate enough to accept him as her son and sent him money to come to her.

Orton was reluctant to go at first, presumably because he feared exposure, but his associates—one of whom was an old friend of Sir Roger's father—made him change his mind. Sir Roger's former servant Andrew Bogle accompanied him on his trip to Britain. He arrived in London on Christmas Day 1866 and visited the Tichborne estates. There he met the Tichborne family solicitor Edward Hopkins and Francis J. Baigent who became his supporters. When in January he travelled to the Paris hotel where Lady Tichborne was living, the desperate lady "recognised" him instantly as her son. She even handed him Sir Roger's letters from South America. The fact that Orton did not understand a word of French did not bother her, and she gave him an allowance of £1,000 a year. Orton researched Sir Roger's life to enforce his imposture.

After Lady Tichborne's acceptance, various other acquaintances of Sir Roger accepted him as well. They included other officers of the 6th Dragoons, several county families and Hampshire villagers. He even hired a group of manservants who had served in the 6th Dragoons.
Resistance begins

Other members of the Tichborne family were not so gullible and promptly declared him an impostor. Their investigators found out that this Tom Castro was a butcher's son from Wapping and had jumped ship in Valparaíso, Chile, where he had taken the name Castro from a friendly family. Orton had even inquired about his family members in Wapping when he had come back from Australia. They also found many other discrepancies when Orton tried to fit his own South American experiences to those of Sir Roger.
When Lady Tichborne died in March 1868, Orton lost his most prominent supporter. He would have probably stopped the charade had he not owed a significant amount of money to his creditors. (He sold "Tichborne Bonds" to pay the legal costs when he tried to claim his inheritance from the Tichborne family.) The rightful heir at the time, Sir Henry Alfred Joseph Doughty-Tichborne, was only two years old.
Trails

The trial to establish his inheritance began on 11 May 1871 in the

Court of Common Pleas before Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet CJ, and lasted 102 days. Orton weathered the attacks against the discrepancies in his story and his outright ignorance of many key facts Sir Roger would have known, including how to speak French as the heir had spent most of his youth in France. Over 100 people vouched for his identity as Sir Roger—except Orton's brother who claimed otherwise. Eventually Sir John Coleridge (whose junior was Charles Bowen) revealed the whole case in a cross-examination that lasted 22 days, and the evidence of the Tichborne family eventually convinced the jury. The case was closed on 5 March 1872, when Orton's counsel William Ballantine gave up after witnesses described tattoos which Sir Roger had had but Orton did not, and Orton lost his upper-class supporters.
Orton was promptly arrested and charged with perjury. His criminal trial began in 1873 and lasted 188 days with the judge, again Sir Alexander Cockburn, taking 18 days to sum up. The jury was eventually convinced—based on, for example, testimony by Orton's former girlfriend—that this claimant was false. Orton's defence was led by Edward Kenealy, who would later be disbarred for his aggressive behaviour during the case. Orton was convicted on two counts of perjury on 28 February 1874, and was sentenced to 14 years' hard labour. The legal costs amounted to £200,000 (at least ten million pounds sterling or twenty million US dollars adjusted currency).
Afermath

Many people who had supported the claimant's efforts refused to believe the truth and claimed he was unjustly persecuted. Rumours included conspiracy theories about Jesuits. Kenealy was elected to Parliament, but failed to convince other members to take the Tichborne case to a Royal Commission in April 1875. As a result, Orton's supporters started a small-scale riot in London.

Orton served ten years in prison and was released in 1884, by which time the public had forgotten him. He alternately confessed and claimed he was innocent but aroused little interest. He died in poverty on 2 April 1898. His coffin still carries the name Sir Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne.