The Red Lion Southampton

The Red Lion Southampton is tied to the 1415 trial of Henry V's conspirators, giving this pub a direct connection to one of the city's most dramatic medieval stories. The building is a Grade II* listed pub, built in the late 15th or early 16th century as an example of a late medieval hall house.

What is The Red Lion Southampton?

The Red Lion Inn is a pub with a late-medieval hall-house structure and a Grade II* listing. Its timber-framed frontage is a 20th-century addition, so the exterior combines a later street-facing element with the building's earlier architectural character.

The pub also appears on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. That listing gives you another reason to recognise The Red Lion as a specific historic interior rather than treating it as an ordinary place to stop for a drink.

What is The Red Lion known for in Southampton's history?

The Red Lion is known for its connection with the Henry V conspiracy story. The Walk the Secrets of the Titanic route describes the pub as being here in 1415, when Henry V's conspirators were put on trial for treason.

The story continues beyond the trial's setting: the conspirators were later executed at the Bargate, Southampton's North Gate, up the High Street. Henry V also sailed from Southampton's Westgate for France in connection with the Battle of Agincourt. The Red Lion is referenced in Shakespeare's Henry V, adding a literary connection to the pub's place in the story.

What can you notice around The Red Lion?

Look above Bayleaf Kitchen for bananas and grapes. They are associated with the building's earlier use as a fruit and vegetable warehouse in 1912. The tour source connects that warehouse with supplying produce for the Titanic, including approximately 1,000 tons of grapes. These details belong to the surrounding building, not to The Red Lion itself, but they help explain the maritime history attached to the pub's setting.

Nearby, a red-brick building was the Post Office and contained the Postmen's Memorial. The memorial relates to the Royal Mail Steamship Titanic's official postal contract and to crew members who died trying to save sacks of post. Follow the Titanic route through these nearby details to place the pub, the warehouse and the Post Office connections in sequence.

Why is The Red Lion worth recognising?

Recognise The Red Lion as a place where Southampton's late-medieval building history, the Henry V conspiracy story and the city's Titanic-era food and postal connections meet. If you want to trace those details in sequence, follow Walk the Secrets of the Titanic.