Sun in the Sands
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Sun in the Sands
| image = Sun in the Sands inn - geograph.org.uk - 634795.jpg
| caption = The pub in 2007
| start_date = {{Start date|1745}}
| building_type = Public house
| map_type =United Kingdom London Greenwich#London
| map_dot_label = Sun in the Sands
| map_caption = Location in London
| coordinates = {{coord|51|28|30|N|0|1|30|E|display=inline,title}}
| location = Blackheath, London, England
| website = {{URL|www.suninthesandspub.co.uk}}
}}
The Sun in the Sands is a pub-restaurant between Blackheath and Shooter's Hill in London. It lends its name to the adjacent junction, where the A2 between central London and north Kent meets the A102, which notably, to the north, provides access to the Blackwall Tunnel. Several Transport for London (TfL) bus routes pass the former simple crossroads.{{cite web|url=http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/maps/buses/pdf/blackheathsuninthesands-a4-200912.pdf|title=Buses from Blackheath (Sun-in-the-Sands)|publisher=Transport for London|access-date=7 August 2013}}
History
{{main|Shooter's Hill}}
{{Annotated image
| image = Map_of_Kent_Sheet_002,_Ordnance_Survey,_1869-1882.jpg
| image-width = 4400
| image-left = -0
| image-top = -2100
| width = 300
| height = 250
| float = right
| annotations =
| caption = The site in about 1880.Map of Kent Sheet 2, Ordnance Survey, 1869-1882 Click for broader map and to enable varied magnification.
}}
The upland heath, ridge, to the east was a meeting point since the Middle Ages, and was, in widespread recountings, a stopover of King Henry VIII when riding from Greenwich to Shooter's Hill with his first Queen and several Lords.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lg8HAAAAQAAJ&q=%22sun+in+the+sands%22+london&pg=PA189|title=Bradshaw's guide through London and its environs. Corrected and revised|last=Blanchard|first=Edward Litt L|year=1860|publisher=Oxford University|page=189|access-date=7 August 2013}} The present pub dates from around 1745{{cite web|url=http://www.suninthesandspub.co.uk/|title=Sun In The Sands|access-date=7 August 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/21/sun_in_the_sands_character_appraisal_adopted_oct_2007|title=Sun in the Sands character appraisal|publisher=Royal borough of Greenwich|date=October 2007|access-date=7 August 2013}} and its name comes from the sight of the setting sun amidst dust, kicked up by sheep herded by drovers from Kent headed to London.{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=k-4SrdUPNFoC&q=%22sun+in+the+sands%22+london&pg=PA378|title=Dictionary of Pub Names|last=Rothwell|first=David|publisher=Wordsworth Editions|year=2006|page=378|isbn=9781840222661}} It was soon an isolated inn on heathland, frequented by highwaymen in one period known as "the Trojans", who regularly pickpocketed.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hjVNAAAAcAAJ&q=%22sun+in+the+sands%22+london&pg=PA589|title=The London and Paris Observer: Or Chronicle of Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts, Volume 13|publisher=Galignani|year=1837|page=589|access-date=7 August 2013}} William Hazlitt was known to visit the inn.
The junction was built in stages, due to various 20th-century projects to bypass the old Roman Road between Blackheath and Dartford. The modern A2, parallel to this, forms the Shooters Hill By-Pass{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1922/may/29/arterial-roads#S5CV0154P0_19220529_HOC_275|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|title=Arterial Roads|last=Neal|first=Arthur|date=29 May 1922|access-date=8 August 2013}} which took most of the 1920s to complete.{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1930/dec/02/shooters-hill-by-pass#S5CV0245P0_19301202_CWA_140|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|title=Shooter's Hill By-Pass|last=Morrison|first=Herbert|date=2 December 1930|access-date=8 August 2013}} The modern roundabout with side sliproad dates from the late 1960s.{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1969/jul/23/motorways-eltham#S5CV0787P0_19690723_HOC_601|title=Motorways (Eltham)|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|last=Hamling|first=William|date=23 July 1969|access-date=8 August 2013}}
As well as the junction, the pub inspired the name of Sunfields Methodist Church{{cite web|url=http://www.sunfieldschurch.org.uk/historyofsunfields.html|title=History of Sunfields Church|publisher=Sunfields Methodist Church|access-date=7 August 2013}} and the adjacent Sun Lane, a former caravan repair site which now hosts a garage;{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DAdThNYQoMwC&q=%22sun+in+the+sands%22+roundabout&pg=PA10|title=Country Boy: A Biography of Albert Lee|last=Watts|first=Derek|publisher=McFarland|year=2008|page=10|isbn=9780786482955}} it was previously a tiny passage, Sun-in-the-Sands Lane.[https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17&lat=51.47579&lon=0.02471&layers=168&b=7 London (Edition of 1894-96) CVI, Revised: 1893, Published: 1897], National Library of Scotland Maps. Retrieved: 2 July 2021.
Since 1995, Greenwich Council has protected the appearance of a zone east of the junction, including the pub, as a Conservation Area,{{cite web|url=http://greenwich.limehouse.co.uk/portal/planning/cs/proposalsmap?pointId=1303919152489|title=3.28 Map 28 - Sun in the Sands Conservation Area|publisher=Royal borough of Greenwich|date=October 2007|access-date=7 August 2013}} defined as an area "of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance."
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.suninthesandspub.co.uk/ Official website]
{{Pubs in London}}
Category:Pubs in the Royal Borough of Greenwich