The Old Ship Hotel is believed to date from 1559, as an unnamed house owned by Richard and John Gilham.

[2][3] The building was purchased in 1671 by Nicholas Tettersell, who owned the boat Charles II used to get to France.

[6] In 1780, the assembly rooms hosted card evenings on Tuesday and Saturday, although the ballroom was later closed in 1814.

[3] In 1821, the magistrates' court was moved to the Old Ship,[5] in 1831, Niccolo Paganini gave a concert in the assembly rooms,[1] and in 1835, Gideon Mantell gave a lecture on geology and organic remains at the Old Ship Hotel.

[8] Charles Dickens stayed at the hotel in 1841,[1] and other Victorian visitors to the hotel included Robert Schumann's wife, Sims Reeves, Luigi Lablache, Marietta Alboni, Julius Benedict, Charles Santley, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, and Henry Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk.