Spice Island Portsmouth: The Story Behind the Waterside Pub

Spice Island Portsmouth is a traditional, family-friendly pub dating back to the 1700s, with waterside views of Portsmouth's harbour. This is the specific Portsmouth pub behind the name, rather than an unrelated reference to a spice island elsewhere. Its setting and name connect it to the maritime history of Portsmouth Point, including the area's inns, press gangs and the wider Age of Sail.

What is Spice Island Portsmouth?

Spice Island is an historic pub beside Portsmouth's harbour. The pub describes itself as traditional and family-friendly, and dates its history back to the 1700s. Its waterside position gives it views across Portsmouth's harbour, making the harbour setting part of what distinguishes this place.

The name is also tied to the spot itself. The pub's description presents Spice Island as a place with a long connection to Portsmouth's waterfront, rather than simply a modern name chosen for the venue.

Why is it called Spice Island?

Spice Island is said to be named because this was the first place where spices from around the world landed. That claim explains the unusual name through Portsmouth's historic role as a maritime arrival point.

The name carries the idea of goods arriving by sea from distant parts of the world. It is a specific explanation for this Portsmouth location, not a claim about the pub's current menu or a general description of the area.

What is Spice Island's connection to Portsmouth Point?

Spice Island is identified as part of the area known as Portsmouth Point. Portsmouth Point is described as the piece of land for which Portsmouth gets its nickname, “Pompey” — a shortening of Portsmouth Point.

The historical associations of Portsmouth Point were far less polished than the present-day pub setting. The area was associated with brothels, inns and murders. These descriptions belong to the history of the surrounding area; they are not claims about Spice Island as a pub today. The RULE PORTSMOUTH! tour uses Spice Island and Portsmouth Point to explore this particular part of the city's past.

What happened around Spice Island during the Age of Sail?

Press gangs operated in the area around Spice Island and Portsmouth Point, impressing men into the Royal Navy. The tour material describes this recruitment as sometimes involving force, but more usually inebriation.

In the account connected to the place, a man could leave a local inn after drinking and wake the next morning aboard a tall ship bound for a distant part of the world. Press-gang recruitment was common in Britain and elsewhere during the Age of Sail, described in the source as spanning the 16th to the 19th centuries.

The practice also formed part of the political tensions before the American War of Independence. Among the grievances of the Thirteen Colonies was the Royal Navy's use of press gangs. That wider maritime history gives Spice Island's harbour position a more specific character: the waterfront was connected to the movement of ships, sailors and forcibly recruited men.

What should you notice when you visit Spice Island?

Start with the pub's waterside position and its views of Portsmouth's harbour. Then keep the name in mind: Spice Island connects this present-day pub to a claim about spices arriving from around the world, while its Portsmouth Point setting recalls the inns, press gangs and maritime life associated with the area.

To explore that connection through the documented route, follow RULE PORTSMOUTH! and discover what the experience asks you to investigate for yourself.