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A brief history of the Salisbury Arms

General Background - The Salisbury Arms first became a licensed premises in about 1878. Prior to that it had been two cottages with a brew house behind them. It was probably the first public house in Purewell. Mystery surrounds the pub in the form of a ghost. There have been reports of a man in a blue coat haunting the pub!

The Coat of Arms

The young William Longspee was a crusader who died in the company of about 300 other knights at the battle of Mansourah on the Nile Delta, only 4 days after he had inherited the Earldom from his father in 1250. His mother was the redoubtable Isabella de Fortibus who retained all the lands of her late husband for some 40 years untill she passed them over to the King on her deathbed. She is buried at Quarr Abbey. She, along with Elizabeth the late Queen Mother were the only two women ever to have held the appointment of Constable of Carisbrooke Castle and Lord of the Isle of Wight.

Edwardian photograph of Purewell and The Salisbury Arms looking east. Picture is copyright and courtesy of Betty Underwood, Classic Pictures, Tuckton, Bournemouth.

2006 photograph of Purewell and The Salisbury Arms looking east.     Picture by Ash Gannicott