When the nights get long and the days get balmy, where better to enjoy a drink or bar meal than in our Courtyard Garden. With its flagged floor and trailing plants it makes the perfect setting to enjoy a morning coffee or lunchtime snack and if the nights get nippy, don’t worry, the garden is heated on
cool summer evenings.

Often with live entertainment in the summer months, this area takes on an atmosphere of

The Bugle Coaching Inn
and the Ancient Town of Yarmouth

Yarmouth is the oldest town and port in the Isle of Wight. It was built as a town on the grid system in the early 12th Century, long before Newport, Ryde or any other Island town, and it was for many years the only port of entry to the Island. As a sea port Yarmouth inevitably acquired a number of Inns, there is little doubt that the site of the present Bugle Coaching Inn was occupied by one of the originals. Indeed, the situation of the Bugle, in what was the original market square of the town facing down Quay Street that leads to the harbour, would confirm this.

To give some idea of the importance of Yarmouth in those early days the following facts may be of interest. The town received its first charter in 1135; in 1200 there is a record of two churches in the town and in 1295 Yarmouth sent its first representative to parliament. It was first constituted as a borough in 1439 and has had a mayor since 1440. Incidentally, in 1208 and again in 1214, King John stayed in the town while assembling a fleet. The Inns would have
then been very busy.

The name ‘Bugle’ is said to come from the latin word ‘Buculus’, meaning a wild bull, the musical instrument of that name making a similar noise. A wild bull was one of the supporters of the Coat of Arms of Henry Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick, who was made King
of the Isle of Wight by Henry VI (circa 1439), and three Island Inns previously called ‘The Bull’ or the ‘Bulls Head’ had their names changed to
‘Bugle’ in his honour.

The present building in the Square is possibly the fourth or fifth on the site, Domestic and commercial buildings in the middle ages were built largely of wood and other combustible materials, and fires were frequent. In addition to these normal hazards the town of Yarmouth was burned down by the French in 1377 and again in 1543, so the town has seen many changes through the centuries. There are many records of the part played by the Bugle in the life of the town, particularly in Victorian times when it was owned by Benjamin Mew, the brewer of
Mew Langton fame.

The Bugle is reputed to be haunted, there are many and varied accounts of a shadowy female figure having been seen in the kitchens however, the appiration was always believed to be friendly. When it is considered that the building on this site has been connected with the life of this ancient town for over 800 years, the wonder is that there are not many more.

Ron Winter, Historian