If you’re looking for a spot to eat and drink while you’re out and about in Salisbury, the Haunch of Venison has quite the storied past.
Bursting with antique charm and quirks, the building dates back to the 15th century, with records of an inn at that location going all the way back to 1320. The pub is said to be haunted by a number of ghosts, and boasts that Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower drank in the Horsebox bar while planning the infamous D-Day landings. What really sets the Haunch of Venison apart, though, is a peculiar sight in the corner of one of the pub’s seating areas. An old cast iron bread oven sits recessed in the wall, emitting a dim red glow. When you peer into the oven, you are greeted with the sight of a mummified severed hand clutching a fateful set of playing cards.
As the story goes, sometime around 1820, there was a game of whist in progress at the inn. One participant was a flashy stranger, of whom the locals were rather suspicious. The stranger won round after round and flaunted his winnings by ordering drinks for all. But as the night went on and patrons grew drunker, the stranger’s continued wins began to draw the ire of the locals. Eventually a butcher had enough, and lopped the stranger’s hand off with his cleaver— revealing that the stranger held four aces and confirming the locals’ suspicions of cheating.
In 1911, the mummified hand and its cards were uncovered behind an old fireplace during renovation works. A display case was fashioned out of a bread oven, and has been home to the hand since. In 2004 the hand was stolen, but six weeks later quietly returned by the thief. Several years later, in 2010, the hand was stolen for a second time. And once again, it was returned. The hand is now securely locked in its bread oven for pubgoers to oggle at, and has not been thieved since.
