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