Old Farmhouse, Southampton

Public House in Mount Pleasant Road, Southampton

50°54′53″N 1°23′33″W / 50.9148°N 1.3925°W / 50.9148; -1.3925OS grid referenceSU 42806 12986AreaHampshireBuiltBef 1560
Rebuilt 1611

Listed Building – Grade II*

Official nameThe Old Farm House Public HouseDesignated14 July 1953Reference no.1302207

Location of Old Farmhouse in Southampton

The Old Farmhouse is a Grade II* listed pub^[1] which was originally a farmhouse, and dates back to at least 1560. It was rebuilt in 1611 and converted to its current usage in 1843. It is claimed to be the oldest building which is now a pub with a beer garden in Southampton, Hampshire.^[2]^[3] It is situated adjacent to the Mount Pleasant level crossing on the South West Main Line.

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.^[2]^[3]

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.^[2]

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. Former Landlord Barrie Short (now deceased) stated that although he didn't believe in the legend he had 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. A skull, alleged to have been that of the girl, was unearthed in the cellar and used to be displayed behind the bar.^[3]

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.^[2]^[3]

Closure and reopening

On 12 March 2019, the pub was voluntarily closed after a report by the Food Standards Agency gave it a food hygiene rating of 0 out of 5.^[4] The report found rat droppings behind the ice machine and the building was not ‘structurally sound’.^[4]

In July 2021, a revamp was underway ahead of a potential reopening in August 2021.^[5]

References

^ "THE OLD FARM HOUSE PUBLIC HOUSE". Historic England. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Old Farmhouse". Southampton Pubs. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Legg, Penny (2011). Haunted Southampton. The History Press. ISBN 9780752455198.
^ ^a ^b Orde, Tom (13 April 2019). "Old Farmhouse pub in Southampton closes after Food Standards Agency finds rat infestation". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
^ Orde, Tom (21 June 2021). "Old Farmhouse pub set to reopen in Southampton". Southampton Daily Echo. Retrieved 23 August 2022.