Page 18 • The HERALD • 4th January 2024 v SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE HERALD v Covering Blackfield, Holbury, Hythe, Marchwood and Surrounding Areas ~~~~~ Lady Driver - DBS Checked Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle ~~~~~ Short Local Journeys Cruise Terminal & Airport Transfers Hospital Appointments Pub Pick Ups/Drop Offs Call 07795 192398 Cash and Card Payments accepted in vehicle We offer a Full Range of Carpentry and Building Services: • Full Design Service • Garage and Loft Conversions • Extensions • Fitted Kitchens and Bathrooms • Brickwork • Flat Roofs • Conservatories • PVCu Windows • Decking • Fencing, Pergolas and Gates D&G CARPENTRY & BUILDING Over 25 years experience, so for a fast and friendly service with free estimates call on 07767 833227 or 023 8089 9371 Acorn Building Contracts Ltd u Reliable, local builders offering affordable, quality workmanship u Our employees are fully qualified and fully insured u All aspects of building undertaken including extensions, structural alterations, roofing, ground works, kitchens, bathrooms, carpentry and plastering u Drawings arranged u Insurance work undertaken u Local Authority Approved Contractor For free quotations and friendly advice please call Office: 023 8024 3336 Mobile: 07786 656865 Email: acornbuilding@gmail.com or visit our website: www.acorn-builders.co.uk You will not be disappointed A History of The Drummond Arms in Hythe, and by Marc Heighway, mheighway@hotmail.com Marc hosts monthly local history talks, visit: nfhwa.org/ events for details. e impressive façade of e Drummond Arms, now known as Drummond Court, has stood tall overlooking Hythe Pier since opening as a pub and hotel in 1846. But no pints have been pulled in the building for over twenty years. It closed as a pub and was converted into ats and commercial premises in the year 2000. ese modern day developments of this local landmark are relatively well known. But the site that Drummond Court stands on has a rich history as a pub that can be traced back as far as the 1600’s. e late Graham Parkes published ndings including early references to an unlicensed alehouse on the exact same spot. is drinking hole was called ‘Sympsons’ and then later ‘Bradbys’ at which point it appears to have become a licensed public house in 1655. Further references to the property being an alehouse are also found in 1748 when publican John Arminer was given permission to extend the use of the building and create a quay on the foreshore opposite the site. It’s possible that this was designed to allow for a more direct delivery area for goods and alcohol coming to the pub via Southampton water. During my own research I read a tragic report from September 1774 reporting on a boat capsizing o Hythe with four men onboard. An announcement was placed in the Hampshire Chronicle asking people to visit the pub to report any information about the accident or sightings of bodies washing up. By 1775, the pub was now known as e Montague Arms. I wonder if this led to confusion, as there was an inn at Beaulieu also called e Montagu Arms (minus the ‘e’), which still exists to this day. Whilst they had slightly di erent spelling, both the Hythe and Beaulieu pubs were hosting timber auctions in the late 1700’s. ankfully for those coming to the New Forest to buy wood, the Hythe version of e Montague Arms was demolished in 1779. I’d like to think this saved a few wasted journeys on horse and cart to either establishment. e direct lineage through to e Drummond Arms that stands on the same site we know today, was set in motion a few years before the 1779 demolition project, buying up as much property as possible, including buildings in Hythe. Just like a modern day property developer, Drummond saw the potential of the site, so bought the pub and knocked it down to build a bigger and better inn on the same plot. e new pub was ready for business by January 1780, with an advert appearing in the local press promoting both the establishment and the newly installed landlady. Despite being rebuilt from the ground up to be “elegantly tted up for the reception of her customers”, the building confusingly still shared the same name as the other inn that was four miles away in Beaulieu. But this was to be remedied in 1782 when Hythe’s new pub was renamed ‘ e Lord Rodney’ a er a Royal Navy admiral and friend of Robert Drummond. Over the course of the next sixty years, the pub would be called various slight variations on e Lord Rodney name including ‘Rodney’s Head’, ‘ e Rodney Inn’, and ‘ e Rodney Arms’. Regardless of the name, activities at e Lord Rodney appear relatively consistent during this period. As well as being a pub, it continued to host timber auctions. I found adverts in local papers from the early 1800’s through to the late 1830’s inviting people to attend the Rodney Inn to bid on timber including ash, elm, and oak trees. e timber was promoted as being trees of the very best quality, mostly t for shipbuilding. e available trees were listed at place names you will be familiar with. ese included Ashlett Creek, Badminston, Dibden, Fawley, and Stanswood. e trees were marked with white paint and had numbers on them, I believe this meant the winning bidder then had to visit the spot and fell the tree themselves. Auctions were also held for land sales and farming stock. One advert invited people to bid on “two fat pigs” and a “quantity of potatoes.” e Rodney Inn was not only a place to have a drink and a social. It was also a hub for much of Hythe’s community administration. One example was being a receiving house for letters. is was an early version of a post o ce where people could pick up or drop o letters to be taken over the water to Southampton. In April 1822, building contractors were invited to submit tenders to the Rodney Inn to win the job of building a chapel in the village. e chapel opened Continued on page 19 Drummond Court today of Hythe’s Montague Arms. In 1772 Robert Drummond bought the manor of Cadland near Fawley. He embarked on an expansive portfolio
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