inn 4 The Greyhound Inn – its history from the 14th century.
£5.00The present Greyhound Inn, formerly known as Penkhull Hall then previously by the name of Greenhead House, (simply – head of the green) stands opposite to what is now the west door of the parish church, but before the church was built here was a large open space of common manorial waste where the village pinfold was situated. In the first place the Greyhound was an old building, originally a farmhouse, would be constructed of timber, wattle and daub with one large room – the large parlour, which was used for the Customary Court Baron and Court Leet. This section of the building now forms the public bar section of the Inn. The building still retains its original form, although largely reconstructed in 1936.
Beneath the floor was The Penkhull Lock-up often used for the confinement of drunks who were usually released the next day, or to hold people being brought before the local magistrate the following morning. A typical village lock-up is a small structure with a single door and a narrow-slit window or opening. Lock-ups were not a gaol; they were only a temporary place to secure prisoners.
A precise history is told with the aid of court rolls, Hearth Tax Record, surveys of the manor and parish records, all meticulously recorded to provide an accurate unique account of its history from the 14th century. The essay is 21 pages x A4 with many photographs which will no doubt give great pleasure to the reader, and even more help with late night conversations in the pub debating its history.
