Shoppers browsing in the Body Shop have no idea they've stepped into a former pub that formed Worthing's own pub Bermuda Triangle.

The Buckingham formed part of a triangle of three pubs, each a dart's throw from the other. The Buckingham, the King's Arms, and the Victoria - very handy if the landlord kicked you out!

Steve Coombes recalls: "My friend's mum and dad had this pub in 1980. The ground floor and first floor were for drinking, and the top floor was where they lived. My friend's name was Marko Hill. When you went in, the bar was on the left, and there was seating down the right. The Body Shop put the extension on the right side, I think in about 1987 (unconfirmed). I remember being able to sit in the bar and have crisps and a Coke."

The Buckingham today, a retail outlet for the Body Shop chain.

The right-hand structure was an addition to the original building, which allowed it to stretch out over the end of Buckingham Road, possibly because Montague Street became pedestrianised?

It was common practice to have a door on the corner at that time (before the side addition) but here it has been converted into a window. The pediment above still exists, although slightly blunted.

A close-up of where the front door was to the pub, taken a few years ago when the shop had a different colour scheme.

The original doorway pillars had fluting, or grooves within the rendered surface. The added extension also had these put in to marry up with the main building.

Rebecca Scott writes:

The reason why the pub closed was down was to the Landlord and landlady getting a divorce. Justine was their adopted daughter. I slept in the spare room above the pub twice.

I don't remember the Landlord or Landlady's names; there must be a record somewhere. I remember going to the pub for the first time in 1985, and Justine's parents were running the pub, but they could have been the owners, I don't know.

 Time Line

1839 - Richard Bacon.
1855 - John Goble.
1861 - Charlotte Stent.
1866 - Charlotte Stent.
1871 - Thomas Chandler.
1883 - Mrs Eliza Chandler to George Cobden
1891 - George Hobden
1892 - Nathaniel Morling.
1914 - H Gosling
1940 William Newman
1960s Edmund (Jim) and Maud (Winks) Greenfield.
1982 - Norman and Vedra Stevens
1987 - Closed