Category: Dorset

This is Norman House, a rather nicely located residence situated by the river in Christchurch. It still looks rather decadent even though half of it has fallen down.

Looking from the other side of the building, which is located near Christchurch Castle. The history of the two is interlinked, the castle was defensive and a place of safety, but the property was where the Lord lived when people weren’t attacking him. Built in around 1160, it was a luxurious property for the Lord and it was later used by the Constable of the Castle.

Inside the building which fell into disrepair after the medieval period. I’m surprised that it survived after this, as it would have been easy to cart the stone away to use elsewhere which is what happened to most of the castle.

The sockets where the first floor slotted in are clearly visible around the structure.

And the remains of the steps with a sign warning of deep water, although it didn’t look very deep to me.

The remains of a former fireplace, with the rare Norman chimney, and the whole arrangement is notable as it’s one of the few surviving Norman residential properties in the UK, although there’s one in Norwich hidden under the magistrates’ courts.

English Heritage has this plan of the property and I’m slightly amused by the little bit of modern there and I’ve stared at photos and I have no idea what they’re referring to, unless it’s the closing up of a door. Some sources say that demolition started in the eighteenth century, but the local vicar was able to intervene to stop the total destruction of the property. This would explain why it has sort of survived, it became recognised quite early on as a building that needed to be retained for future generations.

Anyway, the monument is accessible for free at any time for anyone who wants to see the modern section of the building, or indeed, the Norman bit.

We did think of popping in here, but we were a little bit limited by the fact that it was shut.

It’s this that I liked, the phrasing that they were closed “due to an unexpected incident involving a fire” sounds like something I’d write. I hope everyone is well and if I’m back in Christchurch I’ll pop in here as I like their style.

I like a blue plaque and Christchurch Local History Society has placed a fair number of these around the town. Bow House was built as a brewer’s house in the eighteenth century, it was then occupied by the taxidermist Edward Hart before becoming a building society in the twentieth century and it’s now a dentists.

It’s perhaps the period when it was occupied by Edward Hart (1847-1928) that is the more interesting time as he turned it into a museum of the things that he had stuffed. There’s plenty of information about him on the Hampshire Cultural Trust website and they mention:

“Edward worked at William’s [his father] new premises for several years, learning the art of taxidermy, until he opened his own business at 23 High Street (The Bow House).

As well as preparing animals and birds for local sportsmen, Edward started his own collection. Most of his specimens were taken between 1867 and 1897. In 1866, his collection was large enough to open a museum in ‘The Bow House’, which is now the Portman Building Society.

Hart’s Museum received many visitors, including Sir Robert and Lady Baden-Powell in March 1914. The building was described as ‘warm, well-lit and very clean, the ideal of a private museum, every part of which is crowded with rare and beautiful birds.’

The Public Natural History Museum for Bournemouth attempted to buy the collection to keep it in one piece, but that didn’t work out.

“After the death of John Hall, the collection was passed to Stowe School in Buckinghamshire where they remained until 1983. The collection was, by this time, in a sad state of neglect and staff at Leicester Museum took them on for conservation and safe storage. Unfortunately a number of cases were beyond repair and had to be disposed of. In the early 1980’s, Stowe School offered the collection for sale and they were purchased by the Horniman Museum, Leicester Museum and Hampshire County Council Museums Service (HCCMS). Twenty two cases were purchased by the latter and chosen, not only as fine examples of taxidermy, but also because the backgrounds show Christchurch at the time the birds were shot.”

The building is listed and this states:

“C18. Painted brick facade with dentilled eaves cornice. Tiled roof. 2 storeys and attic with a pedimented dormer. 2 bays each of 3 windows, unbarred sashes. Doorway with pilasters, broken scroll pediment and door of 6 fielded panels, the top 2 panels cut away and glazed.”

The Christchurch Brewery was located behind this house, but that history was all swept away in the 1970s when they wanted to build a lovely new car park. Looking at old maps, it’s not entirely clear that there was a great deal to preserve from this period and I’m not sure that the buildings were very notable.

During the weekend, Ross and I visited all of the pubs that were in Christchurch (or the central bit anyway) and there’s a fair variety of them available including food-led, loud, quiet, real ale led and craft beer led.

Dirty Gerties [less of a pub and more a function venue]

Railway, The [We visited here, but I’ve decided not to write about it]

Saxon Bar

Ship, The

Smugglers, The

Snug, The

Thomas Tripp

Ye Olde George

The only Good Beer Guide listed pub is the Saxon Bar and that has the widest range of craft beer alongside several real ales. This is a micro-pub and perhaps the best in terms of beer selection. The Snug is quieter but has several real ales available, there’s much more quirkiness here. The Thomas Tripp is louder and busier for those who like that kind of atmosphere, whilst the Ship is food-led although drinkers are very welcome. The Ye Olde George is more expensive but has a pleasant beer garden, whilst the Smugglers is a little further out and is more of a community pub.

I really like places that are quirky (well, generally as there are exceptions) and we went here on both evenings. This is more of a cafe bar than a pub, but it absolutely meets the requirements of the latter and it’s very well reviewed online.

They have cake, real ale and a range of beers in bottles.

Just for reference, here’s their breakfast menu.

And the lunch menu.

The real ale board and they were featuring a selection of beers from the Drop the Anchor brewery who are located in Hinton, which is a short distance away from Christchurch. I think it’s really positive that they’re supporting a local brewery and I noticed it too late, but they were offering flights as well (as in beer flights, they weren’t flying to Hinton).

My beer on the first evening was the Tucktonia from Drop the Anchor, which was a hoppy, tropical and quite floral little number. Ross had bottled lager.

My beer on the second evening was the Citralicious from Drop the Anchor, an ale with a citrusy edge, not entirely well rounded but a bit more rustic. Ross had bottled lager.

This is the sort of quiet and peaceful environment that I like, with a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. On the first evening one of the members of another group was telling me about the real ales he had tried and he noted that they were all hoppy. That was not an inaccurate statement, but he had clearly enjoyed his experience.

A design concept such as this is marvellous and it’s a great opportunity for the staff to pop anything old…. Although I’m sure that they’re carefully curated everything.

I really liked this venue, it was something a little different and the service was friendly and the surroundings intriguing. There was a wide range of real ales, they’ve made a proper effort here to do interesting things and I hope that’s rewarded with the number of customers for them as they deserve it.

Located around ten minutes walk from the centre of Christchurch, this is the Smugglers which reopened earlier in 2025. The pub has been an important part of the community for many years, previously known as the Smugglers Run and the Olde Starre Inn. It’s now run by the business partners who are behind the Thomas Tripp pub as well as some other enterprises in the town.

I couldn’t see any real ales, although I think that they’re usually sold, and the keg options didn’t look very interesting either. The service was though engaging, friendly and helpful, with the team member offering to bring the Guinness to the table when it was ready which I thought was kind.

I went for half a Guinness and Ross went, unsurprisingly, for a lager. The Guinness was served in an appropriate glass, it was at the appropriate chilled temperature and it tasted as I expected, so all was well.

We were heading for an Indian meal at this point, but here’s the food menu at the Smugglers. Those prices seem very reasonable to me, with plenty of choice available. There was a comfortable and inviting feel to the venue as well, I really quite liked it here.

There’s something of a community pub feel to the venue, there’s pool, darts and they also show a lot of live sports. I’m not sure that these are key drivers for me, but they’re important in a community pub that wants to attract a broader dynamic, so that all feels positive.