The Black Dog

The Black Dog. . Built in the 16th century the Black Dog public house is one of the oldest pubs in the town. Although the date above the left ground floor window reads 1621 the back of the building is much older. The pub was originally called The Dove until the 16th century when Weymouth won the contract to trade with the newly formed colonies of Newfoundland and Labrador., It was then that the landlord of this pub purchased the first black Newfoundland dog ever seen in this part of the country from one of the new trading ships from that region. The local legend is that the dog brought such an amazing number of sightseers from the surrounding district that the landlord changed the name of the pub in honour of the dog and the new found prosperity it had attracted for him., The pub is also known to be an old smuggling haunt and inside there is some interesting writing on the ceiling., Murder...A murder took place in front of the fireplace when John (Smoaker) Mills and the son of a local Richard Mills snr, whipped Richard Hawkins to death in 1758, They were caught and later hung at East Grinstead., This murder took place because Mills, an ally of the famous Hawkhurst gang of Sussex, falsely accused Richard Hawkins of an offence against his smuggling gangs. It was only later that it was found that Hawkins was innocent.