'Blood beer' and a menu for dogs at the Dancing Man Brewery in Southampton

Before becoming the award-winning watering hole it is today, the building housed the Southampton Maritime Museum which documented the maritime heritage of the city and the Solent area.

Not “just a pub”, the Dancing Man plays host to parties, corporate functions, balls, award ceremonies, wakes and weddings.

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Described by owners as a “brewpub” it boasts a 110-seater restaurant and two bars.

A totally independent company, it is owned by two friends, Mandy Lacey and Aidan Lavin who are helped by a team of 41 staff.

The business brews all of its its own beers on-site and has been voted the best pub in Southampton for the last four years running.

As well as receiving the best design in the south award in 2016 it features in Good Food Guide.

The brewery is child-friendly and even offers a menu for dogs.

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Head brewer and director Aidan, said: “I have been brought up around pubs all my life and have spent a lot of time around “bar culture”. The craft brewing industry has boomed in recent years but I believe we are the only brewery in the world to have made beer out of blood – we used black pudding. I get to collaborate with the head chef to create ales that compliment the menu. We have made pink grapefruit and vanilla milk flavoured ale.”

Its premises are within the Wool House which was built after a French raid on Southampton in 1338.

The building was once used as a storehouse for wool exports to Europe and is the only surviving freestanding medieval warehouse in Southampton.

During the Napoleonic wars, the Wool House is used as a prison for French prisoners of war. The names of some can still be seen today, carved on the beams of the roof.