In an age when water was not always safe to drink or easy to boil, the safest thing to do was to drink ale. It was even given to babies. In 1393, in the reign of Richard II, an Act was passed making it compulsory for premises selling ale to have pictorial signs outside. Most  people  could  not  read then and there were official ale tasters to check on quality.

The oldest licensed premises we know of in Netheravon was called the Red Lion in the 1740s. We don’t know where it was, but it was run by  James Hussey in 1826. Another, the  Chequers, was run by  James Stagg (of Coombe Farm Enford) in 1822-27.  William Oram was a licensee in Netheravon in 1756 but we know not where. 

The names of two pubs we know about, the Dog & Gun and the Fox & Hounds are associated with  the area becoming a hunting estate.  The Fox & Hounds may have experienced a name change.  The Green Dragon was  situated on the Haxton/Fittleton boundary but we  have so far no documentary records of it.

 Other licensed post First World War establishments  were the British Legion and the Working Men’s Club. In 2022 only the Dog & Gun and the WMC remain.

To find out more about the history of each Public House on the name of the pub below to read more: