It's going to be a birthday celebration with a difference as Southampton's London Hotel, on the corner of Oxford Street and Terminus Terrace, marks its centenary this month.

With its distinctive green-tiled facade and etched glass windows, The London Hotel is one of the city's most recognisable public houses and over the years has become something of a landmark building close to the Eastern Docks.

Exactly 100 years ago, in February 1907, the present premises were built, although according to the history books, a pub or hotel had stood on the site since 1846.

Now The London Hotel's two owners, David Riley and Raymond Cole are planning a series of celebrations and parties to mark this significant birthday.

"We have been here for three and a half years now and we regularly have people coming in saying they remembered the pub over the years,'' said David.

"Not long ago somebody came in and said their great-grandfather, Stanley Claude Lewis, was the landlord here in 1909 and he was somehow connected to a survivor of the sinking of Titanic.'' The London was one of a number of public houses in and around Oxford Street that were regular stopping off points for crews from many of the liners which docked in port during the last century.

A map from 1846 shows premises called the Railway Hotel on the present site of The London, owned by Robert Davis, who also owned Davis's Railway Hotel next door.

Nearly 20 years later the Railway Hotel had changed to Bacon's Hotel and by 1870 it was called the London Spirit Stores.

It changed to The London Hotel in 1907 under the ownership of Forder's Hampton Court Brewery and its trademark can still be seen over the corner window.

Brickwoood's Brewery took over the public house in 1925 and then, in 1971, it became part of Whitbread's empire.

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