THE GUN INN

Oil On Canvas 30cm x 25cm SEPTEMBER 2023

I'd planned to paint this iconic pub for a while and finally produced this in 4 hours on a very hot September afternoon, thankfully the staff at the pub supplied me with a nice pint to cool me down.

I have been visiting Keyhaven for a number of years.

It is a perfect place for all types of watersports and a major factor in me buying a paddle board. The urge to get out on the water on a hot day led me to quickly drive to Poole, buy a SUP, and I was paddling around on the sea within an hour.

Whilst waiting for the tide to come in, filling up what is known as Keyhaven Lake, I have had time to create a number of sketches and paintings around this area.

It is thought that there has been a dwelling on the site of the Gun Inn since the 1600’s, but the earliest tangible reference is from the Churchwardens accounts of 1783 when it is referred to as ‘The House at the sign of the Gun’. By 1790 it is simply named ‘The Gun’. Various other sources mention ‘The Pot House’ or ‘Ale House’, so it is assumed that rate payers at this property were in fact ‘Landlords’.

There seems to have been 27 landlords since 1783. Two were drowned at Keyhaven, five were named George, two were women and most served for two to three years. The longest serving was Arthur Payne, from 1871 until his death in 1909, some 38 years. The most recent tenants, Paul and Jacquie Hill, come in a close second at 33 years service.

Due to his fame in the world of Wild Fowling, it has often been said that ‘The Gun’ was named for Colonel Peter Hawker’s punt gun, but Hawker didn’t make his first visit to Keyhaven until 1814, some 24 years after the first records appear naming the building as ‘The Gun’. Though it is more likely that the sign post for Hurst Castle simply had a gun on it, and that sign stood in front of the building which now carries its name.