Historic Romsey pub dating back to 1708 put up for sale

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A historic Romsey pub dating back more than 300 years, and at the centre of a noise dispute, has been put up for sale.

The Bishop Blaize, a Grade II-listed property on Winchester Road, is being marketed as a freehold by Savills. The asking price is £450,000.

It is currently run by Martin Drake and his wife Rachel, who have faced a challenging year following a licence review that threatened its closure.

Mr Drake said: "We are not planning on closing, and we have put an offer in to buy the pub as it has been up for sale for a few months.

"But there are a lot of repairs that need to be done to the building, like the roof, windows and doors all need doing, which will be hundreds of thousands.

"If we can't be guaranteed a verdict on the outcome of the licensing review, then it's not worth having the pub, but for now we are holding on our offer until a verdict is reached."

Test Valley Borough Council’s Environmental Protection team applied for a review of the pub in August following concerns about alleged public nuisance linked to outdoor events and noise.

Martin and Rachel Drake (Image: Newsquest)

A licence review means the council’s licensing committee will examine whether the pub is still promoting the licensing objectives and can impose new conditions, restrict activities, suspend the licence or, in the most serious cases, revoke it.

He added: "Pubs are really highly wanted in Romsey, and now it's only really the Tudor Rose and us, which is such a shame because we can't get a guarantee on licensing."

The couple recently reduced the price of a pint to £4 to encourage more visitors, and say the move has increased footfall, making it one reportedly of the cheapest pints in Romsey.

The Bishop Blaize is described as a "100% wet-led sports bar" with capacity for around 20 customers indoors and 40 in the garden.

The ground floor includes the main trading area, bar, kitchen and cellar, while the upper floors feature four-bedroom residential accommodation across two levels.

The pub dates back to 1708 and sits on a 0.259-acre site with a 15-space car park and an enclosed beer garden.

According to CAMRA, the freehold owner is Punch Pubs & Co (Punch Taverns).

An application for the licence review was received on August 17.

Representations are open until September 29, though a hearing date has not yet been set.

The full property listing is available to view here, https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gb0456s354156

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