Bailey, who has more than 25 years’ experience in restaurants in the UK and Europe, will lead the food operation at the former pub, which is being developed by new owners Chloe and Shane Breen.
The plans include a 60-cover restaurant with a terrace, a private dining room for up to 20 guests, a café, a pub, a farm shop and nine bedrooms.
The restaurant will focus on seafood, seasonal produce and cooking over coals using a Mibrasa grill. Dishes will include whole turbot, steaks and chops.
Alongside the restaurant, the venue will include a separate pub space designed to offer a traditional pub experience, with snacks set to include Scotch eggs, sausage rolls, olives and oysters.
The café, which will seat 40 guests inside and 50 outside, will serve freshly made cakes, viennoiserie, also available through the farm shop, and light dishes from 8am to 5pm daily. Its food offering is expected to include moules frites, risottos and schnitzels.
“It’s really exciting to be part of the refurbishment of The Castle Inn, and I think the project has huge potential,” Bailey told Restaurant.
“It’s about bringing this historic building into the modern day and creating a place where people can enjoy great food in a relaxed, accessible setting.
“Just 10 minutes outside Brighton and surrounded by beautiful countryside, it’s a lovely location for a restaurant where people can enjoy great food in a welcoming, laid-back atmosphere.”
Bailey’s previous experience includes time at Brown’s Hotel and Chez Bruce in London, before working in Madrid. He later returned to the UK to open The Black Rat in Winchester, where he attracted a Michelin star in 2011, which he held for 10 years. In 2018 the chef joined Rathfinny Wine Estate to open its Tasting Room restaurant and went on to oversee the estate’s dining experiences.
Following Bailey’s departure from the estate after eight years in 2026, he worked as a private chef, catering for dinners and events which he has now put on hold to take up the role at The Castle Inn.
The wider project is being led by Chloe and Shane Breen, who run Breen Equestrian from Hickstead. Chloe, a former British international showjumper, is the daughter of Douglas Bunn, founder of Hickstead, and remains involved in the running of the equestrian venue. Shane is an Irish international showjumper.
The owners recently introduced Bailey and general manager Zoe Mann at an event that took place in front of The Castle at Hickstead Place, the historic home of the Knights Hospitallers, after which the inn takes its name. The site also sits on the historic London-to-Brighton road and has evolved over several centuries, beginning as a farmhouse before a hotel was built at the front of the property in the early 19th century.
The restoration will retain the building’s connection to its coaching inn heritage, with plans including hitching posts for guests arriving on horseback.