Pubs on the Hard

The Ordnance Survey map of 1861 shows a preponderance of alehouses on the Hard, Portsmouth including the Ship and Castle, The Queen’s Head, the King and Queen, the Ship Anson, the Victoria and Albert, the Waterman’s Arms, the Bedford-in-Chase, the Sheer Hulk, the Nag’s Head, the Keppel’s Head Pier Hotel, the White Hart Tavern, the Row Barge Tavern, and the Earl St Vincent Tavern. These would have catered for the thousands of sailors that passed trough the area and the dockyard workers who worked immediately adjacent in the Dockyard. Not surprisingly, the Hard became notorious for the riotous behaviour of men and women alike.