The pub itself is an astounding palimpsest of history, having served various roles over six centuries, including a factory, a school, a private house, and even a brief stint as a dentist’s office.
Its name honours the travelling brushmakers who used the vale of Upham as a base, fashioning brushes from local hazel sticks and selling their wares across the countryside.
Adding to its deep history, the structure also briefly served as Oliver Cromwell’s campaign headquarters in 1645 during the English Civil War, as he advanced on Winchester.
Yet, despite this notable military connection, the strongest spiritual signal comes not from the conflict, but from a private, personal tragedy.
That tragedy belongs to Mr Chicket, a regular, successful guest at the Inn, known for the high quality of his wares and the substantial money he earned.
One night, while sleeping in a low-ceilinged room above the inn, he was murdered during a robbery.
The killer successfully escaped with his horde of gold coins, never to be apprehended.
This act of avarice and betrayal created a powerful haunting signal.
Chicket’s ghostly form is described as a shadowy presence, perpetually searching for his lost money or the thief who took it.
Reports of phantom footsteps, doors rattling strongly, and sightings of his shadowy figure continue to define the pub’s reputation.
However, the legend surrounding Chicket’s spectral search contains a truly remarkable chronological twist.
Local folklore claims that the murderer, after committing the crime in 1545, fled and boarded the Mary Rose, the flagship of Henry VIII, which subsequently sank that same year in the Solent.
Crucially, the legend asserts that Chicket’s haunting — his ghostly moaning and the midnight coin rattling — only ceased the moment the Mary Rose was successfully recovered from the Solent seabed in 1982.
The recovery of the ship is said to have satisfied the ghost’s relentless search for justice or his stolen wealth.
While Chicket’s story dominates, the Brushmaker Arms is home to other tragedies rooted in the pub’s commercial life, lending the entire establishment a complex, layered atmosphere.
The cellar, for instance, is said to be haunted by a former landlord who was tragically found hanged there.
Unusually, this ghost is not a figure of melancholic despair but is reportedly still present, moving empty beer barrels as if trying to earn his keep in death.
Patrons have also reported seeing a ghostly old lady floating behind the bar, unconnected to the commercial tragedies.
The pub’s spirits are noted for being highly interactive.
Staff have previously claimed that the resident entities will sometimes make noises on command if asked.
This was seemingly confirmed in a 2025 paranormal investigation when researchers offered a doughnut as a token of goodwill, resulting in an electronic trigger object, known as a ‘cat ball,’ immediately illuminating in response.
The most bizarre modern claim, however, moves beyond the human narrative altogether.
During that same 2025 investigation, an upstairs camera recorded a mysterious flying creature, estimated to be roughly four inches tall, moving around the room three separate times.
After ruling out conventional explanations like moths or butterflies, the investigator was left with a truly extraordinary conclusion: the entity “could very well be a fairy”.
For all the pub’s historic layering — from Cromwell’s planning sessions to a modern claim of elemental phenomena — the mystery of the Brushmaker Arms remains focused on the man who gave the establishment its name. Mr Chicket’s presence, whether still rattling coins or having found rest in 1982, ensures that the history of this Hampshire inn remains as restless as its most famous, eternally searching spirit.
