The Hobbit is a pub in the

Bevois Valley Bevois Valley ( ) is an inner city area of Southampton, England, within Bevois Electoral Ward, and includes areas called Bevois Town and Bevois Mount. The area lies south of and adjoins Portswood and is within easy walking distance of the city ...

area of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, England. Previously the Portswood Hotel, it was named after

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

's book ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...

'' in 1989. In 2012 the pub was involved in a legal dispute with

Middle-earth Enterprises Middle-earth Enterprises, formerly known as Tolkien Enterprises, is a subdivision of the Embracer Freemode division of Embracer Group and formerly a trade name for a division of The Saul Zaentz Company. The subdivision owns the worldwide exclusiv ...

, a company owned by film producer

Saul Zaentz Saul Zaentz (; February 28, 1921January 3, 2014) was an American film producer and record company executive. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and, in 1996, was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. Zaentz's film p ...

, over its use of the name.

History and facilities

The Hobbit was originally known as the Portswood Hotel, and appears on 19th-century

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mapping. It was renamed The Hobbit in 1989. Its name is inspired by the race of the same name featured in the works of

; other public houses with the same name exist or have existed in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

Monyash Monyash (/muhn-ee-ash/ munyash) is a village and civil parish in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, west of the market town Bakewell. It is centred on a village green above sea level at the head of Lathkill Dale in the limestone area k ...

(now renamed) and

Sowerby Bridge Sowerby Bridge ( ) is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. The Calderdale Council ward population at the 2011 census was 11,703. History The town was originally a fording point over the once muc ...

. It won the Best Pub award at the ''

Southern Daily Echo The ''Southern Daily Echo'', more commonly known as the ''Daily Echo'' or simply ''The Echo'', is a regional tabloid newspaper based in Southampton, covering the county of Hampshire in the United Kingdom. The newspaper is owned by Newsquest, o ...

s "Best Bar None" event in 2007. In December 2007 it was forced to close for two weeks as a result of an administrative error, during which time the pub was refurbished. In March 2003, The Hobbit was the last place murdered student Hannah Foster was seen alive. The Hobbit used to be known for cocktails and shots named after characters from Tolkien's novels ''

'' and ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'', but were issued a cease and desist letter from

in July 2020.

Ownership and management

The pub is one of several in Southampton to be owned by

Punch Taverns Punch Pubs & Co is a pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom, with around 1,300 leased pubs. It is headquartered in the traditional brewing centre of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constitu ...

. It was operated by landlord Steve Dockrell prior to his death in October 2008, and was taken over by Stella Roberts in June 2009. In the 2010s, the Hobbit's business began to suffer because of increasing costs, and that since the rise in tuition fees students have been spending much less at the venue. In September 2019, Jack Andrews took over as landlord. On 13 March 2012, it was reported that

, a division of the

Company (SZC) which oversees copyright issues surrounding Tolkien's works on

Middle earth Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ( ...

, had accused the pub of copyright infringement over the use of the Hobbit name. The move was strongly criticised by actors

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

and

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

, both of whom were to appear in the Hobbit film series, and by

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Denham ...

, Member of Parliament for

Southampton Itchen Southampton, Itchen is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Royston Smith, a Conservative member of parliament. Discounting the Speaker (of the House of Commons) returned in the early 1970s in two ...

. A

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

campaign to save The Hobbit was launched, and by 16 March 2012 had gained over 50,000 followers. On the same date SZC offered to resolve the dispute by allowing the pub to use the name for a licence fee. Fry and McKellen later offered to contribute to the payment of the licence fee. Despite the apparent resolution, legal disputes surrounding the issue continued into August 2012, when an event was held at the pub to raise money to pay for its lawyers to continue negotiations. In 2017, Roberts reported that the pub may have to close owing to increasing rates for commercial premises in Southampton. A crowdfunding appeal was set up to raise appropriate funds. In 2021, the pub underwent a £600,000 revamp which involved renovating most of the building.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbit Pubs in Southampton Things named after Tolkien works