Race continues for community to buy parish pub

4 hours ago

Patrick BarlowSouth East

Campaigners in Danehill are looking to buy the Coach and Horses pub after it was put on sale earlier this year

Google A pub building with a garden in front of it, which has benches and small trees in it. A small green pub sign sits on the left hand side on a white pillar, with "The Coach and Horses" written on it. — Campaigners in Danehill are looking to buy the Coach and Horses pub after it was put on sale earlier this year

Two people spearheading a campaign to buy a pub say its closure would "diminish the community tremendously" as they aim to raise the funds needed to take it on from its current owners.

Residents in Danehill are looking to buy the Coach and Horses pub, which they say is on the market as its owners of 28 years are due to retire.

Americans Duane Lawrence and Margaret Wagner, part of the Keep The Coach and Horses Local campaign, say they have raised more than half of their £800,000 target, which would allow them to buy and run the pub through a community benefit society.

Lawrence told BBC Radio Sussex: "The pub is a gorgeous example of what we do so well."

He added: "I moved to Danehill with my family because of the Coach and Horses - we went into the pubs nearest where we were looking at houses, and when we walked in there we said 'this is where we are going to live'.

"It would diminish this community tremendously if it went away."

Wagner added that the pub, if bought by the campaigners, would be shaped by shareholders who could help to decide what other community assets could be run out of the site, such as a post office.

So far, more than 200 households have raised £462,000, and campaigners must hit their £800,000 target by 15 November, the group added.

Campaigns to buy community pubs have become commonplace in recent years after struggles to keep them afloat, with many closing as a result.

About one pub a day will have closed in 2026 by the end of the year, according to projections by the British Beer and Pub Association.

MP Mims Davies, whose East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency the pub is in, said: "There are very, very few opportunities that come where you can help shape your community.

"I, with all those from my area and wider, wish all the luck in making this happen and grabbing the opportunity to shape the future of this fantastic venue which has been run by a fantastic family for many years who are now retiring."

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