In 1086 (at the time of Domesday Book), Havant was a village with a population of around 100. In 1200, the monks of Winchester Cathedral were granted the right to hold a market at Haveunte. Around 1450 an annual fair was held. For much of its history water played a vital part in local commerce, with many water mills, parchment manufacture and brewing. Much of Havant was destroyed by fire in 1760, leaving only the church and the adjacent late 16th or early 17th century cottages. The cottages are now known collectively as “The Old House at Home”, and are now used as a pub. It is claimed that the two main beams in the lounge bar were recovered from the Spanish Armada, and that the “Bear Post” within once had the last dancing bear in England tethered to it. The fire did allow widening of roads and the easier passage of stagecoaches through the town: the Bear Hotel and Dolphin Hotel were notable coaching inns. In the early hours of 25 October 1784 Havant suffered a minor earthquake, and a similar event occurred on 30 November 1811.