Hampshire village pub reopens after a quick refurbishment

The Crown Inn in Bishop's Waltham has been given a "sparkle" and opened doors once more to customers on November 7 "with a premium new look and feel".

Last month, a spokesperson for Fuller, Smith and Turner said: “The Crown Inn, Bishop's Waltham, is closing on Monday, October 21, for a refurbishment and is due to reopen on Thursday, November 7, with a premium new look and feel.

READ MORE: Hampshire country pub undergoing refurbishment to close

The pub during the refurbishment (Image: NQ) "This will feature new menus, including a prix fixe menu during the week, an upmarket drinks range, friendly service at its heart, and a new manager, Tracey Mears, at the helm. Tracey and the team are looking forward to opening the doors of The Crown Inn and claiming its place at the heart of the local community.”

Fuller's reopened the pub in 2012 after a two-year closure in an effort to rebrand it as an upmarket establishment. That revamp cost £2m, turning it into a "boutique" hotel with rooms currently at around £100 per night.

The Crown's building, located on The Square, also has a claim to fame – a suite of rooms upstairs is named the "Villeneuve Suite' after the Admiral of the French naval fleet who was imprisoned in the building after being captured during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 – an English Heritage blue plaque on the exterior of the building marks his stay.

The pub now, freshly painted (Image: Google) Of the pub's history, the following is written on The Crown's website: "After the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, about 200 French prisoners were sent up to Bishop’s Waltham. Among those captured were Admiral Villeneuve, who had commanded the combined French and Spanish fleet during the battle, and Ambroise Louis Garneray, a French painter and writer. The Admiral and the painter both stayed at the Crown Inn. Ambroise painted several of his sea pictures here from memory. A blue plaque was attached to The Crown Inn in 1997 to commemorate the Admiral’s stay.

SEE ALSO: One person taken to hospital after pub fire in Bishop's Waltham

"The Crown Inn was once a popular place for cockfighting and also figured in the Bishop’s Waltham Beer Riots of 1884. The riots were a result of the local curate’s strong objection to the renewal of licenses of some of the public houses. The rioters, having consumed way too much beer, threw the poor curate into the fish pond.

"Today, the Crown has all eight boutique bedrooms named after French ships or French Admirals as a way of giving a gentle nod to the history of the place. The building is timber-framed and has traces of Tudor brickwork visible all around it, giving the pub a warm and historic look."