The Hampshire Bowman began life as a coaching inn around 1700 – the inn was needed because we’re adjacent to a steep hill and the horses needed somewhere close to rest between jobs.By the late 1800s the coaching inn had become a pub. In 1886 the pub, then known as “The Dundridge Hotel”, was rebuilt after being “burnt and blown down” reopening as “The Jubilee” around the time of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee – you can still see part of our old name on the exterior wall.In the 1950’s and 60s the pub and landlord Tommy Weston were at the centre of the local black market, Tommy had the dubious honour of being the last man in the country to hold a “shilling slaughter licence” and could often be seen riding his motorcycle, pet pig sat in the side-car!In the 1970s the licensee’s wife Carol Montague, a member of the British Olympics team was a founder member of the archery club adjacent to the pub and we became The Hampshire Bowman. In 1987 The Bowman became a freehouse when Gales Brewery sold it to current owner Charles Scott. Tim Park ran the pub for 15 years followed by Heather Seymour for another 10 years before moving on to new challenges.Today, the Bowman’s landlords are Mark and Chloe who took over in October 2012 having already been involved with the pub for some years. We’re proud of our annual beer festival (always the last weekend in July) and our charity events.