Marrowbone Slip in Sutton Harbour

These two buildings, the China House Pub and the apartment building behind it, are separated from each other by not much more than thirty five metres in distance but over three hundred and fifty years in time.

The China House building was first seen in a watercolour of Sutton Harbour painted in 1666, by Sir Bernard de Gomme, the military engineer, who in 1665 was appointed to oversee the building of the Royal Citadel.  With its massive seventy foot walls it still stands guard over the city and its approaches.

As we look back across Sutton Harbour from the pub's terrace, past the Fish Market, to the massive walls of the Royal Citadel, it is easy to imagine the scene which Sir Bernard had from his high vantage point as he looked down across the bustling harbour towards this building all those centuries ago.