Pubs and Beer in Southampton: Pubs and beer in Portswood

The Manor of Portswood, which included Bevois Town, Swaythling, St Denys and Highfield, was first named in a charter dating from 1045. The name Portswood comes from the Old English Porteswuda, meaning "wood of the town". The manor was granted to St. Denys Priory by Richard I in 1189, and it remained under their ownership until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in 1536. The land and title was purchased by Francis Dawtrey in 1538, and passed through several hands before being bought by Giles Stibbert in 1771. Stibbert, Lieutenant-General with the East India Company and later Commander-in-Chief of India, built the first Portswood House on the estate to the design of a Mr. Crunden. The house, which stood in the area now bounded by Spring Crescent and Lawn Road, was demolished in 1852 to make way for more housing, and the name Portswood House transferred to the nearby Portswood Lodge. The estate was gradually sold for development, and the second Portswood House was demolished in 1923, allowing the whole estate to be sold by 1928.

Today it is a mainly residential area with a long shopping street between Waitrose and Sainsburys. It has a large student population due to the nearby Southampton University, and there is a cosmopolitan vibe due to the mix of students, lecturers, and peoples from all over the world. It feels quite liberal, relaxed, bohemian, relatively well off, and vibrant. There are a number of pubs, bars, coffee houses, and gelaterie.

For the purposes of this blog the boundaries of this area are Southampton Common. the M27, and the Itchen River. More precisely, it is the Avenue, starting at the Crown Court, going up via Bassett Avenue to the M27, then down the Itchen River to Northam Bridge, and then drawing a line from Summers St to Cranberry Avenue / Cranberry Terrace. Some pubs are close to these boundaries, such as The Prince of Wales, the White Swan, and Cowherds, and I may shuffle them around.