The Lord Nelson pub has emerged as the latest historical venue to go up for sale in Ipswich.

Owners Adnams have placed the 17th century pub in Fore Street on the market but outlined their intentions for the venue to remain a pub. The pub is now an available freehold with an asking price of £395,000.

The news comes after the Golden Lion pub, which had stood in the Cornhill for 500 years, closed down last month. The Wetherspoons-owned pub is up for sale.

Nigel Smith, Suffolk Area Organiser for the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said: “It’s very disappointing to hear of another historic and traditional pub being sold in the Ipswich town centre.

“But sadly it comes as little surprise to me as the Ipswich pub nightlife is getting ever quieter. A town that boasted over 100 traditional drinking pubs when I moved here just 30 years ago will soon have little more than half that number remaining as many other residents either drink at home or socialise elsewhere.

“With the growth in out-of-town drinking and dining options, and a surplus capacity in local supermarkets who now offer heavily discounted drink promotions for the take home market, this trend is likely to continue for a while.

“As ever I would still urge local drinkers to support our remaining local pubs otherwise there will be even fewer soon.”

An Adnams spokesman said: “We are not closing the pub. It is on the market and our wish is that it remains a pub when it is sold.”

Property surveyor Fleurets, which has placed the pub on the market, said the “development of the (Ipswich) waterfront has secured the long term future of this pub”.

History of the Lord Nelson

The Inn standing on the north east side of Fore Street, opposite the east end of Salthouse Street, was not always known as the Lord Nelson. Until sometime between 1790 and 1805 it was called the Noah’s Ark.

The earliest reference traced of the Noah’s Ark is 1672, during the reign of Charles II, when the local Headboroughs ordered William Stephens to repair his pavement.

In 1715 the landlord was again in trouble with the Headboroughs when he was accused of having ‘muck’ in the vicinity of his Inn.

In 1805 the new name of the Lord Nelson was first noticed in the Overseer’s accounts of St Clement’s parish. The license to trade in intoxicating liquor, dated 1811, is extant and cost £9 indicating that the establishment was more than just a common beerhouse. Many other licenses of the first half of the 19th Century have survived together with alehouse recognizances of 1824 and 1825.

In 1996 the Lord Nelson underwent complete refurbishment in a style appropriate to its age and location.

The building, originally two timber framed cottages, has been listed Grade II by the Department of the Environment. The pub was renamed the Lord Nelson when he was appointed as High Sheriff of Ipswich.