Midhurst, British, Traditional Restaurant Guide

“Given the number of great country pubs within 20 minutes of Chichester, Horse Guards stands out for the quality and originality of the kitchen” (which delivers a short seasonal menu strong on local produce) but the setting is also “exceptional” – being a “stylishly rustic” 350-year-old pub with a clutch of rooms on the fringe of the Petworth estate (and with a “lovely peaceful garden” to take in the scenery).

2023 Review: The view (towards Goodwood) from the window is said to have inspired William Blake’s anthem, Jerusalem, in 1803, but the current future is uncertain at this eighteenth-century coaching inn, which shut its doors in early October 2022. We await news of the new incarnation of this vantagepoint over ‘England’s green and pleasant land’.