From Monday 16 October 2017, the Priory Court Hotel in Pevensey joins the pages of Bay Life, online and in print. Here we republish part of an article we first published on 3 February 2015, with a special message update to Peter and Vicky. co-owners of the Priory Court Hotel, in tribute to their continuing vision. Bay Life says that with the Priory Court Hotel Pevensey, and the work done in 2013, that this is where the great Pevensey regeneration story began.
Bay Life review: Priory Court Hotel, Pevensey
3 February 2015
When we were first given the opportunity to take a historic tour round the building, at an early stage in the re-fit, over two years ago, two things became apparent.
The first was the value of the premises from a historical perspective. The core of the building is two adjoining rooms with original walls and beams that date from 1641. It is an ideal setting to soak up a sense of Pevensey Castle and the High Street and put both into a frame of reference that stretches back 1,000 years.
The second is owners Peter and Vicky. Peter is a man with a mission. Vicky has the vision. When we met, over two years ago, Peter was a one man army in fatigues on manoeuvres. The work necessary to see the hotel put back into use appeared to phase him not a jot.
As he took us round, describing what was to happen and where, what struck us was the attention to detail in the plan and how a big picture about the project, that had formed his blueprint, looked so well mapped out.
The key question was the obvious one. Was the plan sustainable?
Last year, we were invited to take another tour. The tea room was buzzing, the decor was right and the food well prepared, served with a nice mix of professionalism and informality. As the sun shone knots of local people and visitors in short sleeved shirts spread themselves out on the patio soaking up a sense of the historic castle right there in front of their eyes.
On this occasion we got to see how far forward the plans had come. One of the function rooms was readied for daily hire and news about the freshly minted hotel suites was being finalised, each one nicely named with a local castle theme.
Fast forward a year on the timeline and we have special occasions, weddings, funerals, talks in the tea room, business meetings, marquees, parties and celebrations, all for exclusive use if required. The buzz that started in the tea room now fills the place with events right through the season.
It is the same sense of detail and the big picture that appears to be informing every move.
It is the same warmth that greeted us when we first met the man on manoeuvres in his army fatigues over two years ago.
Between Peter and Vicky, they call it the vision thing, and when it works, it inspires not just guests and business customers but also residents, the village and the locality.
Is it too grand a statement to suggest that what the Priory Court Hotel is doing is enabling the locality to begin to find its own place back onto the local history map?
Pevensey after all is the place that became the starting point for the landmark BBC2 Series, ‘The Great British Story, a Peoples’ History’. The celebrated TV historian, Michael Wood, began with these words ‘this is where it all began’. At the time he would have been hard pressed to find somewhere remotely resembling a tea room in the High Street.
What better way to witness this living history first hand now, than through the doors of the Priory Court Hotel which will take you back to 1641 in this very special part of Sussex?
What was first a blueprint has become a sustainable working model for the kind of business activity that is piece perfect for what the local economy needs.
It is the same blueprint and big plan and the same attention to detail that has marked out the project since the start.
Put the plan into the history blender, the castle conveniently arching its treasures right in front of you, the High Street from where five people set off to witness the sealing of the Magna Carta in 1215. and the hotel that dates back as a building to 1641.
Suddenly what comes into sharp relief is a focal point for local economic and social activity, somewhere that is finding its place again in the story book setting that is Pevensey.
Perhaps people that doubt the value of the enterprise to the locality have not had the opportunity to study what has been done and how it has been done.
The future for the local economy is starting to look a little brighter.
It is to the Priory Court Hotel that we need to look, if we are trace back to when some of these developments began.
UPDATE 14 October 2017
Pevensey after all is the place that became the starting point for the landmark BBC2 Series, ‘The Great British Story, a Peoples’ History’. The celebrated TV historian, Michael Wood, began with these words ‘this is where it all began’. At the time he would have been hard pressed to find somewhere remotely resembling a tea room in the High Street.
Bay Life says that with the Priory Court Hotel Pevensey, and the work done in 2013, that this is where the great Pevensey regeneration story began
