TODAY it is one of Southampton’s most popular pubs and behind its landmark exterior lies a history that can be traced as far back as the 11th century.

The Duke of Wellington stands on a site that is documented from 1200 onwards but it was two centuries later that the property first became connected with beer.

It is known that a Rowland Johnson, a brewer from the Low Countries, arrived in Southampton in the latter half of the 15th century and took over what was by then a semi-derelict building in Bugle Street over massive vaults.

In the reign of Henry VII, Johnson incorporated the first beer brewery in Southampton, probably the first in the south of England.

Duke of Wellington pub, Southampton

One of the customers with staff dressed in Tudor outfits.

He imported the equipment and hops for his work at the Brew Howse, or Bere Howse as it became known, as distinct from the old-fashioned ale house of those times.

These photographs from the Daily Echo’s archive come from 1963, after the pub had undergone a wide-ranging redevelopment that took two years to complete.