The Town Trust now lease the building and maintain it. The building is now secure and the essential work on the sluices, which control the flow of water in the river, and its level upstream has now been completed. There are open days each year where the public can see first-hand the restoration of this historic building
The Eel House sits beside the Wayfarers’ Way footpath in idyllic woodland in a valley about a mile and a half from the centre of the charming small market town of Alresford. It straddles the clean clear waters of the tranquil River Alre with a foot on each of its banks. It is a modest but nicely proportioned building with a clay-tiled roof dating from the 1820’s when the Harris family of nearby Arlebury Park commissioned this minor masterpiece of 19th century ingenuity. Its purpose was to trap mature eels near to the start of their once in a lifetime three thousand mile journey.
On dark moonless nights between August and November of each year eels set off from the tributaries of Old Alresford Pond, travelling with the prevailing current down the Alre to the River Itchen, into the English Channel and then across the Atlantic Ocean. Their objective is to return to their spawning grounds to breed, deep in the salt waters of the Sargasso Sea, between the Bahamas and Bermuda.
For more information, please visit the Town Trust Website New Alresford Town Trust
2025 Open Days
During 2025 it is planned that the Eel House will be open on six days
which will be published as soon as they are agreed
Entry is free but donations, to fund further necessary restoration work, will be much appreciated.
A special opening can be arranged for groups of 10 – 15 people. Please apply to the Trust Clerk for details