Historic pubs near Waterlooville: 5 with a story
A pub saved from becoming flats, a fireplace rescued from an abbey and an inn that exists because of the railway.
Five historic pubs near Waterlooville with documented stories are the Harvest Home in Denmead, the Red Lion in Horndean, the Bugle in Titchfield, the Fifth Hants Volunteer Arms in Southsea and the Castle Inn in Rowlands Castle, which was built in 1853 to replace a pub demolished for the railway.
The best-documented historic pub story near Waterlooville belongs to the Castle Inn at Rowlands Castle, which was built to replace an older pub that came down to make way for the railway. It is one of five local pubs with a real story, all of them checked against CAMRA, Historic England or local archives.
The Harvest Home, Denmead
The Harvest Home on Southwick Road in Denmead was in danger of being turned into flats. CAMRA's pub page says new licensees took over in May 2010, and the Portsmouth News reported ten years on that it had been saved from developers by the new operators together with locals. We read the News piece only through a search summary, so check it for the full account.
The Red Lion, Horndean
The Red Lion at Blendworth, Horndean, is a Grade II listed public house dating from the late 18th or early 19th century. The Historic England list entry, as reproduced by British Listed Buildings, records a lead Sun fire insurance sign. Wikipedia's article on fire insurance marks explains that the Sun Fire Office was among the first to use them, and that for most of the 18th century each insurer ran its own fire brigade. In other words, insurers once ran their own fire engines. We have not claimed that brigades only saved insured houses, because the sources don't say so.
The Bugle, Titchfield
The Bugle in Titchfield is about seven miles away. According to CAMRA, it has a real fireplace that came originally from Titchfield Abbey, and Wikipedia's Titchfield entry also mentions the large fireplace from the abbey ruins. It is one of the nicest pieces of recycled history in the area.
The Fifth Hants Volunteer Arms, Southsea
CAMRA says this Albert Road pub was run by two members of the Walkers family from 1912 to 1985. That is a long stretch behind one bar, and also our thinnest source, since it is a single CAMRA page. It is in Southsea rather than the Waterlooville area, but it was too good a stat to leave out.
The Castle Inn, Rowlands Castle
The Rowlands Castle Heritage Centre archive, citing Lomer 2015, says the Castle Inn was built in 1853 to replace the Old White Hart, which was demolished for the railway. Its booklet summary says the White Hart came down in the 1850s and the Castle Inn was built to replace it. CAMRA, however, says the White Hart was dismantled and rebuilt brick by brick. The sources disagree on whether it was a rebuild or a new build, so all we can say safely is that the Castle Inn was built to replace the White Hart, and the White Hart came down.
Pub history is patchy
None of these stories is dry. They are community fights, insurance badges, abbey stones and railways. Where our sources disagreed, we have said so, and we have left out a Langstone pub's "mill" story and a Dundridge pub because we could only find one source for each.
Raise a glass to all of them, and check opening hours before you travel.
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