Our Heritage 

Dating back as far as the early 16th Century The Anchor was originally built as an Almshouse and was used as such until the 1730s. It was around this time that the Poor House was built in the next village. Keen to replenish  costs the building was sold to the owner of the next-door ‘messuage’ (or dwelling with outbuildings) that already had the name of The Anchor. The building as it is now was established soon after.

During the late 1870's popularity grew for the newly introduced bicycle and Ripley soon became a ‘mecca’ for all good cyclists. Indeed, for many years cyclists referred to the London to Portsmouth road as the ‘Ripley Road’. Such was the popularity that it is reported that on Whit Sunday 1894 the police estimated that 20,000 cyclists passed through Kingston on their way to Ripley.

By 1881 The Anchor had become the favoured port of call for cyclists; the warm and friendly hospitality offered by the then landlady Harriet Dibble was legendary and several hundred cyclists called there most weekends. Such were the numbers arriving on Sundays that the vicar of Ripley organised special church services for them. For countless years, this little inn has been regarded as a ‘second home’ to many. In the late 1900's the buildings were connected through the courtyard via a sun roof. The stables were renovated into bathrooms and outhouses into a small kitchen, which has seen little structural change since then. Now a Grade 2 Listed Building The Anchor is unchanged minus a few open doorways and windows.