Haunch of Venison, Salisbury

Probably Salisbury's most famous pub... and really should not be missed for its wood-panelled interior. 3 Star CAMRA Heritage Pub and GBG 2026. A small bar, with nooks and crannie rooms off it and an upstairs restaurant (unexplored but offering fine views, apparently). Beer offerings were a little tricky to identify, as all handpulls are separate and none on the customer facing side of the bar. It looked like all beers were from Hop Back but this is not a tied house. Summer Lightning in perfect condition, even if its not my go to style. A must visit.

A suitably ye olde half-timbered wonky building, this dates from the early 14th century and was later a brothel, to become an inn – ‘chop house’ – around the 16th century, formerly under the stewardship of Courage, judging by the signage above the entrance. I missed the mummified hand, but with its nogging and nooks and crannies, the atmospheric interior is magnificent, rightly deserving of its CAMRA ***-rating; of note are the old brass and mahogany taps used to dispense wines and spirits above a genuine pewter – not zinc – historic bar top; also of special mention is the front snug or the ‘intimate’ once we’d squeezed 11 blokes into it. I went for a half of the Hop Back GFB, noted as very good. Close to the railway station and with a central location, it’s handy in every sense; it was also my favourite pub of the day and a must-visit when in Salisbury.

Haunch of Venison is an attractive and historic pub with old wooden beamed ceilings throughout. A small wood panelled bar sits at the front with a black and white tiled floor and seating around the walls to the left where a burner sits in the fireplace on the left-hand wall. In the front right is a snug where 11 of us piled in for the pub crawl group picture that was kindly taken by the polite barmaid. She was running the bar where two Hop Back and two Downton cask ales were available alongside premium keg and the Alpacalypse that has an amazing font handle, a cross between a nuclear explosion and an alpaca’s head, marketing genius. This pub is worth a visit just to gaze at the bar that is packed with history and character. Some stairs to the left of the counter lead up to a small room at the rear that was full of diners, and the stairs continue up to the first floor where there’s an L-shaped restaurant that is just as interesting as the bar below. Yes, it gets a bit cosy in here due to its small size, but visiting places like this is what Great British pub crawling is all about, loved it.

Somehow never visited here on previous visits to the city, and didn't have enough time to properly explore this fascinating Camra 3* pub interior of outstanding historic importance on this occasion either. However, both the small bar and even more compact snug to the right-hand side of the entrance are full of interest. The two pairs of old-style wheezing beer engines are somewhat hidden away in different places behind the counter, with Hop Back's GFB and Summer Lightning Back on one, along with New Forest Ale and Moby Dick (£2.75, half) from Downton on the other set. Also has a couple of heritage founts with brass taps once used to dispense wines and spirits. Must leave enough time to have a proper look around next time!

I’m sucker for a bit of history in a pub, so I absolutely loved this CAMRA's national pub interior listed 14th Century building, spread over five distinct different areas. The slight problem is however, that none of the said areas are particularly big and it doesn’t take a lot in each section for it to be standing only. The main bar room has seating to the left and the small servery to the right. Then there is an additional room beyond the bar to the left and two further rooms up the staircase, that are primarily used for dining. But the most interesting feature is the very small snug to the right of the serving area, known as the horse box, which is accessed through a small door which is actually outside, before you enter through the main door of the pub, You could probably get four to six people in here comfortably or in our case eleven blokes on a pub crawl very uncomfortably. Four hand pumps secreted on the two backs of the bar were dispensing Hopback Summer Lightning and GHB and Moby Dick and New Forest Ale from the Downton Brewery. A must visit when in Salisbury.