Red Lion, Southampton

A remarkable late C15 and early C16 high-ceilinged interior with two galleries within a long narrow building. The façade, however, is much more recent: the Tudor-style black-and-white upper storeys with stone mullioned windows probably date from the 1920s while the ground floor was re-fronted during repairs after wartime bomb damage. The pub layout is very largely as it was before the war. The front door leads into a corridor which runs all the way down the left hand side of the building to the toilets at the rear. The front section of the corridor has floor to ceiling fielded panelling, possibly from the 1930s, and a door with the figure ‘1’ on it leads into the main bar.

The highlight and the reason for the Grade II* listing of this splendid pub is the late medieval hall-house, the hall of which (in the centre of the long building) soars through to its full height and displays its massive timber framing and is now the main bar. The very high hall which rises the whole height of the building includes two balustraded galleries probably dated from the 17th century and which can be accessed by a staircase. The room has more floor to ceiling fielded panelling at the front and up to the fireplace level at the rear.

The rear gallery had been enclosed at some stage and it was reinstated to it's original state as part of the restoration work in 1950-2. At the rear of the room is a grand early 16th century stone fireplace with moulded 4-centred arch and rounded tracery patterns in square panels in the front of the overmantel. Note the figure ‘5’ on the door to the cellar.

The bar fittings possibly came from another war-damaged pub although the heated (and still functioning) foot-rail the heating pipe around it is much older. The unusual 'letterbox' at the top of the bar back was installed by Grand Met/Watneys in the early 1970s - it displayed the details shown on the electronic till in a way that could easily be seen by the customer! The bar is called the Henry IV Court Room as it is reputed to be the 'Court room' where the intending assassins of Henry V, Lord Scrops of Masham, Sir Thomas Grey and the flatly of Cambridge were tried when Henry V was in Southampton in 1415, preparing for Horfleur and Agincourt.

At the rear is a separate Lounge, now a dining room with another early 16th century stone fireplace with moulded 4-centred arch and rounded tracery patterns in square panels in the front of the overmantel. The half timbered walls come from a post-war ‘Mock Tudor’ refurbishment. On the wall of the main bar is a photo of the last coach and four horses and a timetable implying a twice-weekly Red Rover service from the Red Lion to the Stag Brewery, Pimlico Brewery until 1952! However, the coaching era finished in the mid 19th century so presumably the photo was taken at the time of the re-opening of the pub following restoration and this was celebrated with the appearance of the coach and horses?