Southampton pubs are a great place to celebrate Halloween! Here are some pubs you can visit during the spooky season.
Haunted Southampton Pubs
The Red Lion Pub, Southampton
55 High St, Southampton SO14 2NS
The Red Lion is an intriguing pub to visit given it’s made up from different eras. The cellars date back to 1148, the main structure is Tudor, and the interior is from the 1950s. This blend of historical eras means its haunted from my many spirits have lived there.
The Red Lion is famous in Southampton for many reasons, but it was the site of the treason trial of the Southampton Plot Conspirators – Richard, Earl of Cambridge, Lord Scrope of Masham, and Sir Thomas Grey of Heaton.
The three allegedly arranged Henry V’s murder in 1415 to put Edmund Mortimer on the throne. Earl reported the conspiracy, and the men were prosecuted for treason. Convicted, they were escorted from the tavern to Bargate. People still claim witnessing a phantom procession exiting the bar.
A woman in her sixties has also been seen in the bar area, and heavy boots have been heard in the basement.
The Station
99 Bullar Rd, Southampton SO18 1GT
The layout of Southampton’s Station Pub has changed throughout time. Some spirits appear in strange locations. One regular who usually sat at the bar’s end now sits in the women’s toilets. Customers describe being touched on the shoulder in the toilet, but no one is present when they turn around.
The Station Pub has documented other paranormal events. On-site CCTV cameras captured a ghostly figure standing near the snooker table, as though maintaining watch over the establishment at night. One of the former landladies stated she heard a guy whistling in the men’s restroom after closure. She’s seen dishes fall from kitchen racks and break.
The cellar has inexplicable phenomena. The smaller area is the boiler room and stores Christmas decorations. This room’s door stays open. When closed, the room’s contents are scattered. Staff have accepted that leaving the door open is simpler than cleaning up every morning.
The Dolphin
30 Osborne Road South, Southampton SO17 2EZ
Several important figures have stayed at the Dolphin Hotel over its existence as a coaching inn. Admiral Lord Nelson and Queen Victoria were regular visitors. In the hotel’s ballroom, Jane Austen, author of Pride and Prejudice among other works, celebrated her 18th birthday.
The Dolphin Hotel has been mentioned in papers going back to 1454. However, other elements of the hotel are thought to be considerably older, with mediaeval timbers and stone vaulting visible throughout the structure.
Molly, a teenage chambermaid, seems to be the most active spirit in the motel. According to legend, Molly committed herself after being rejected by a harsh young guy she had fallen in love with. Molly has been seen strolling the hotel hallways with a weird characteristic to her ghost. Molly’s legs seem to be trapped below floor level, prompting many to assume she is nothing more than a mental imprint of a period when the floor was considerably lower.
Read more about The Dolphin Southampton here.
The Talking Heads
16-22 The Polygon, Southampton SO15 2BN
The Talking Heads, which is roughly 130 years old, is one of the city’s oldest historic pubs. It’s also one of the most spooky!
Staff have reported a number of weird incidents, including the owner getting smacked across the face by an unknown force. One employee claims to have seen a woman in a white dress – or more accurately, a white dress floating in the basement. He claimed that the beer taps were occasionally switched off while no one was in the cellar to do so!
Another member of staff claims to have heard weird sounds and that the ghosts will create noises on demand if you ask them to!
The Brushmakers Arms
Shoe Lane, Upham, Southampton SO32 1JJ
The ghost of Mr Chickett haunts The Brushmakers Arms, one of Southampton’s most supernaturally-active sites. Some say he was a travelling brush salesman, other sources believe he was innkeeper or coach keeper. Whatever the case, one morning, Mr Chickett – who slept with his cash under his pillow – was found dead with his neck cut and his money gone. Guests describe seeing his ghost hunting for his lost money and killer.
Mr Chickett is not the only ghost that lives at The Brushmakers Arms, though. One of the pub’s prior landlords was discovered hanged in the basement, and the present landlord maintains that spirit is still alive. The ghost seems to spend his time in the basement, carrying empty beer barrels around as though attempting to earn his keep! He is suspected of being the source of poltergeist activity elsewhere in the tavern, however, this might very well be a third ghost.
When the top level of the bar recently underwent considerable renovations, it appeared to raise quite a stir among the local spirits! The closet doors kept springing open, new mirrors cracked and when replaced, the same cracks appeared in them as well, battery-operated toys switched on in the middle of the night, and a cat decoration in the lounge was rotated to face the wall every night! There were also tiny objects that would go missing for weeks at a time before reappearing in their same location!
Have you seen a ghost at one of these haunted Southampton pubs? Tell us about it in the comments section below!
when I was six-years-old _ I am now 87 – my mother and I stayed at The Brushmakers Arms, then owned by mum’s friend (Ida Clegg?). While playing in the back garden one morning, I saw a little, old man in a grey suit and bowler hat watching me. We did’nt speak and he disappeared. That night mum woke up screaming, telling Ida she felt fingers on her face. Ida told her not to be afraid. I was just “old Chicket” saying Hello. Mum inisted we left the next day!