The Gun House

Situated next to The Whyte Harte the house now known as The Gun House dates back to the 17th Century, though the exact date of the building is not known. The Gun House is so called because of its most unusual feature, four cannon half buried in the ground at the front of the house. It is believed the cannon the placed their by Sir John Fullerton, steward of Queen Victoria's yachts who was a former resident of the house.

The house has a rich history. It is reputed to have been the centre of brandy smuggling and folklore has it that there was a tunnel running from the house to the shoreline of Hamble. Another suggestion is that their is a tunnel running from the house to the Whyte Harte next door or even stretching further to St. Andrew's church, (the lawn in the garden has a definite ridge which runs from the house across the garden to the wall adjoining The Whyte Harte).

The house certainly has a cellar. Its current owner recounts a story that when walking through the garden her foot went into through a sizeable hole in the ground near that ridge. The hole was filled in and never really investigated further but it is interesting to speculate that their may be some truth to the tales of tunnels under the house.

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