Seashells Hythe - Lounge Bar & Restaurant

About Seashells

Welcome to Seashells Pub and Restaurant in Hythe on the edge of Southampton Water. Seashells is acknowledged to have the best views of Southampton docks, the home port of the ocean going super liners, and modern day cruise ships.

This family friendly pub is open from 10am each day, offering breakfast, tea and coffee together with a full range of beverages from our bar.

From mid-day we offer a full menu of home cooked, locally sourced foods including traditional dishes from sea, forest and farm. Our continually changing specials board offers the chance to sample something new. We also have a range of light bites and snacks including doorstep sandwiches, ploughman’s and baked potatoes with freshly prepared fillings and ingredients.

Why not enjoy a coffee or drink on our first floor balcony whilst enjoying the activity on Southampton Water.

About Hythe...

Did you know that Hythe is an Anglo Saxon name meaning “good landing place”? Hythe was originally acknowledged as the first place on the western side of Southampton that one could land “dry shod”. For 2000 years the ferrymen of Hythe have been transporting passengers and goods across the water to the bustling settlement of Saxon, Medieval and modern day Southampton.

Why not enjoy a coffee or drink on our first floor terrace whilst enjoying the activity on Southampton Water. See the 85 year old electric pier train carrying passengers down the 2000’ Victorian pier to the ferry that runs across Southampton Water every 30 minutes to the exciting new shops in the centre of the medieval walls of Southampton.

Netley Castle can be seen across the water, built for Henry VIII to defend these shores using stones from Netley Abbey, founded by the Cistercian monks of Beaulieu in the thirteenth century. In the distance you can see a tower and cupola, part of Victoria Country Park, the site of a hospital built for the wounded heroes of the Crimean War, and opened by Queen Victoria.

On this side of the water you may see hovercraft bustling across the water. These were developed by Sir Christopher Cockerell who lived and worked in Hythe. These vessels are now being built and repaired in Hythe on the site of the original flying boat base, later an American base, and now a thriving marine park, continuing Hythe’s close link to marine industries.

Did you know that T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) was based in Hythe working with Hubert Scott Paine who developed the fast boats of the RAF, Army and Navy? His stay in our town is commemorated by a Blue Plaque on Myrtle Cottage, just around the corner from Seashells.