Retiring landlord Steve Austen told the Herald recently that he believed the Crown Hotel in Alton opened in 1525, which would make it 500 years old.

But Alton historian Jane Hurst thinks its half-millennium birthday may have passed already - with its actual date of construction lost in the mists of time.

She said: “Sadly no-one knows when the inn first opened, but the earliest record of it is dated March 28, 1515 or 1516, when the inn holder was John Lydfforde. At that time it was known as the Pelican, after the symbol of Bishop Fox of Winchester.

“The lords of the manor of Alton Eastbrook - which included the inn - were Hyde Abbey near Winchester, and they were probably the builders.

“Part of the original timber framing still exists, with the ceiling of the main bar being of a style used in the early 1500s.

“So sadly the 500th birthday of The Crown, the newest of our inns, must have taken place before 2015.”

The Crown was one of the four inns of Alton – the others being the White Hart, the George and the Swan.

Inns were high-class establishments which were allowed to offer wine, spirits, food and accommodation – unlike ale houses.

Like most abbeys, Hyde was closed by Henry VIII and its Alton manor passed to the Crown – hence the change in the name of the inn.

In about 1570 it was recorded that it was now known as ‘the signe of the Crowne’, formerly called ‘the Pellicanea’.

The sturdy and crooked wooden beams, proudly on show throughout the structure, are a constant reminder of the Crown’s antiquity.

Its website is actually quite modest about the building’s age. In the ‘About Us’ section, it merely states: “The Crown has operated as a hotel and public house for over 450 years.”