Haunch of Venison, Salisbury

This is a fantastic multi-roomed heritage pub in the centre of Salisbury, set across three levels. You enter through a small front porch with some nice etched glass double doors, into a very cosy front bar with a chequered tile floor, beautiful full height wood panelled walls with the odd bit of exposed brick and timber here and there, and a small servery to the right. The bar counter uses the same panelling as the walls, beneath a fairly high canopy with a ‘Live Eels’ sign on it and topped with a few decorative barrels. The nice mirrored bar back houses the handpulls in two banks of two and there’s a very nice old beer font at the right-hand end of the bar. The front right corner acts as a cosy little snug, with its own small doorway and enough space for a lone table and just a handful of customers. The rest of the room has hard bench seating to the front and rear, supplemented by a few low stools. A fine brick fireplace dominates the left-hand wall, with a lit stove inside on my February visit, beneath a nice decorative carved mantle. A few traditional paintings, books, clocks, lamps and the like add to the traditional, historic feel of the room and this aesthetic continues up some steps to the rear, where another seating area can be found. It’s another cosy space with standard tables and chairs, darker wood panelling and a second lit fire on the end wall. A staircase to the right leads up to a first floor dining room, which I didn’t explore on this occasion. Sadly, I was unable to locate the pub’s most famous feature - a mummified hand supposedly belonging to a customer who had been discovered cheating at cards - but I had seen it on a previous visit 15 or so years ago and I’m told it is still on display somewhere, after being stolen a couple of times in the past. All four handpulls were in operation when I visited, offering a choice of Stonehenge Danish Dynamite, Butcombe Original, Exmoor Stag and Wye Valley HPA. A bored looking barman served me a well-kept half of the latter at £2.20 and I enjoyed this whilst chatting to a couple of the jovial locals who were surprisingly knowledgeable about the pub’s history. I suspect this place feels like a bit of a tourist trap during peak season, but visiting on a relatively quiet Monday afternoon, I feel I really saw this place at its best. It’s a pub that rewards repeat visits, as the multiple rooms and plentiful features take time to fully explore. The beer choice has improved since I was last here too and their regular listing in the Good Beer Guide suggests the ale quality is consistent. I really enjoyed this visit and would say it’s a ‘must do’ when visiting the city.

A quick visit here found real ales from Hop Back, GFB and Summer Lightning, plus Exmoor Fox which we chose and was fine. Very busy pub which seemed popular with locals giving a friendly vibe. Would have loved the time to explore the rooms in this old inventory pub but so many places to go to in a short time.

An old and attractive looking pub in the heart of Salisbury, it’s equally attractive internally and consists of a couple of quite small rooms, along with an upstairs restaurant area, although we did not investigate this. The main bar at the front of the pub is quite small with only room for about four tables. The walls and fully wood panelled making it reminiscent perhaps of an old hotel drawing room, and there was also an attractive beamed ceiling and black and white chequered tiling on the floor. Top the right was an even tinier snug, which although accessed from the pub porchway rather than the main bar, also had access to the bar counter. A large fireplace off to the left had wood carvings built in to the mantle which was an attractive feature and contained what looked to be a wood burning stove was off to the left, although the fact that it had an engineer’s notice on it declaring it unsafe and not to be used perhaps indicated that it was just a gas replica. Padded bench seating was around much of the perimeter, and the beer engines were unusually free standing behind the bar counter, rather than affixed to it. There were also some old whisky and brandy barrels up above the bar, and a good selection of whisky behind it. A second room up a few steps at the rear was equally compact and looked equally cosy. Beers on tap were GFB and Summer Lightning from Hop Back, Courage Best and Exmoor Fox. Cider choice was disappointing though with just Symonds Founders Reserve, which rather marred what would otherwise have been a truly excellent pub.