Probably not what you were expecting to see. This is Cannon house, the offices of the Worthing Herald. The building takes its name from the Cannon brewery and pub that used to occupy the same plot back in 1866.
 

Built as a retail beer shop run by J. Feest, it was soon to become a brewery. In 1886 to great pomp and ceremony which included a dancing bear and a brass band from Littlehampton, it opened as the Cannon Brewery Museum and Assembly Rooms. This was in Cook's Row, later to become Chatsworth Road.


 

The Cannon Inn was rebuilt in 1894 when the road was straightened bringing the building inline with the pavement. In 1934 it was listed in the local directories as a dining room before finally closing in 1934. The building was later purchased by the Worthing Gazette (now the Worthing Herald) It was demolished in 1974. The Worthing Herald Office now stands on the site. It was named Cannon House in acknowledgement to its past history.

The 1965 map above shows its position within Chatsworth Road.

Worthing Gazette news item 1974:

The Cannon in Chatsworth Road, where Worthing folk could once get a 'bucket of beer for twopence and a stab in the eye for nothing at all,' is to be demolished to make way for 25 car parking spaces.

The Cannon has had a long history. no-one knows for certain when it was built but it was there in 1879. It has been used for an inn, a meat market and a restaurant and munitions factory, before being bought by the owners of the Worthing Gazette, in 1949, for conversion into a photo-engraving plant.

A 'Gazette' of 1949 featured an interview with Mr Harry Short, of Market Street, who had been stabbed in the eye in a fight there 50 years before, when the inn was flourishing.

Some of the other outbuildings will also be demolished. it will ease the situation as far as staff is concerned. Parking will be more of a problem when the precinct opens and the offices there are in use with the meters functioning.

Above right - Not any old chimney pot. This terracotta delight was rescued from the demolition of the Cannon Inn, now preserved safely in a local back garden.

Known Landlord/manager

1866 - J Feest Beer retailer
1931 - GC Sidwell