Shirley Warren: Ice House pub closed and boarded up

Residents spotted that the Ice House on Warren Avenue was being secured on December 6, with social media users wondering if the pub would be closed for good.

But the Echo understands that the pub is only being boarded while landlord Stonegate Pub Company finds a new tenant.

The company has listed that the venue is looking for a new tenant on its website, estimating that the pub can turnover £281,600 a year.

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The Ice House was built in 1912 as a beer house for Fuller, Smith and Turner’s Brewery, before eventually getting a license to become a pub in 1937.

The pub got its quirky name because it stands on the site of old ice pits, where ice was taken from Shirley Pond and stored in the basement.

The most recent tenants in charge were Mathew and Sarah Gillett, who simultaneously ran The Bugle Inn in Botley until November 2022.

Signs remain outside the pub, which was only boarded up last week. (Image: Newsquest) But despite being the closest watering hole to Southampton General Hospital, the pub had a divided reputation.

A resident in Shirley, who asked to stay anonymous, said: “I never went in there as an adult, even though I still lived nearby.

“It was always one of those pubs which appealed to a certain ‘clientele’ where I didn't feel comfortable.”

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A Warren Crescent resident, who also asked to stay unnamed, said that the pub used to be a ‘hotspot’ for Shirley Warren residents.

Other posts on social media called for the pub to be "given back to the Warreners" as the search for a new tenant begins.

Stonegate Pub Company owns The Winston Hotel on Archers Road, which is also boarded in search of a new tenant.

Brass Monkey on Shirley Road, as well as venues including The Bedford, The Lion, Popworld, Yates and Slug and Lettuce, all fall under the company's umbrella.