Old Farmhouse, Southampton

The Old Farm House is a Grade II* listed pub, originally built as a farmhouse in 1611 and converted to its current usage in 1843, which is claimed to be the oldest building which is now a pub with a beer garden in Southampton, Hampshire.[1][2]

History

The farmhouse, shown on the 1560 map of Southampton, was rebuilt in 1611, a date depicted in white bricks on the south wall, by an unknown person referred to in the surviving records as E.R.[1][2]

Panton's Wareham Brewery took out a 1000-year lease on the property and opened a beer house here with Mrs. Annette Eddy listed as landlady in 1852. Scrase's Star Brewery took over the lease in 1892 followed later by Strong's Romsey Brewery.[1]

Local Legends

The pub is reportedly haunted by the ghost of the daughter of an Irish family who got pregnant out-of-wedlock while living here. Current Landlord Barrie Short states that although he doesn't believe in the legend he has noticed that for a couple of days after he goes into the attic the jukebox will start playing strange music and the television will switch channels by itself. Also, a skull, alleged to have been that of the girl, was unearthed in the cellar and used to be displayed behind the bar.[2]

Other unconfirmed local legends state that Oliver Cromwell stayed at the farmhouse on one or two occasions and that smugglers' tunnels run from the fireplace to the nearby River Itchen.[1][2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Old Farmhouse". Southampton Pubs. Retrieved 2014-11-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Legg, Penny (2011). Haunted Southampton. The History Press. ISBN 9780752455198.

Coordinates: 50°54′53″N 1°23′33″W / 50.9148°N 1.3925°W / 50.9148; -1.3925

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