The Duke Of Sussex Public House

The Duke of Sussex public house, situated on the corner of South Parade and Beaconsfield Road, facing Acton Green, was built in 1898 by specialist pub architects Shoebridge and Rising. It is a two-storey building with an attic and cellars. The principal elevation faces Beaconsfield Road, presenting three bays with two windows, alongside a two-storey extension housing the staircase and kitchen. The attic has two steeply-pitched dormers with gablets, exposed timber beams overhanging tripartite bay windows, stuccoed walls, and a small Diocletian window that separates the bays. The first storey is tile-hung, featuring two Shavian 'Ipswich' oriels, tripartite in design with latticing, and an ornamental cornice above. The ground floor has large arched windows, a blocked corner entrance, and a right-side entrance indicated by ornamental ironwork displaying the pub's name. A tiled entrance doorway includes a panel depicting a girl. The elevation facing Acton Green features an attic dormer set back under a segmental head, another with an oriel window within a gable, stuccoed walls, two tripartite windows, and red tile-hung walls. A carved porch hood shelters the corner entrance.

The interior is now open plan, though remnants of original partitions remain. It lacks columns and features a wooden mantelpiece with a tiled surround on the back wall, a horseshoe-shaped bar encircled by a brass rail secured by brass braces shaped as elephants' heads, a wooden bar with a tiled border, and a brass foot-bar fixed to the floor. A curved, lowered ceiling, supported on curved pillars, is likely a later addition, along with the brass uplighters which replaced more elaborate original light fittings, one of which is stored in the cellar. The room is subdivided by wooden screens with plain glazed upper parts, and etched glass is present in the larger openings. The secondary entrance has a lobby with etched glass and a boxed-in wooden and etched glass area. Behind the main building is a single-storey billiard hall lit by a large rectangular lantern that is subdivided by cast-iron arched brackets. A wooden panelled border is carved with cherubs and swags. A fire surround is present with tiles, alongside some etched glass panels on the long wall. Large arched windows and doors lead to the beer garden, and the interior features anaglypta-papered dados. The pub’s interior is considered an unusually rich example of turn-of-the-century design.