Our Story
A pub since 1168.
Eight centuries in the making.
The village of Whatcote is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. By 1168, a stone shelter stood here offering drink and rest to the masons building the nearby church of St Peter. Its ironstone walls, timber beams, stone floors and inglenook fireplace reflect centuries of life — the medieval period, the Tudors, the Stuarts, the Georgians and the Victorians. During the English Civil War, officers are said to have stayed here before the Battle of Edgehill in 1642.
For more than eight hundred and fifty years, this place has offered food, drink and company. Today, Richard and Solanche Craven are the latest in that long line — running a working pub with a pool table, darts, a proper bar, and a Michelin star. These things coexist comfortably here.
The kitchen pays attention to what is actually growing, moving and ripening within a few miles of this building. Wild, seasonal ingredients sourced through long-standing friendships with producers who practise careful land and woodland management. Dishes come and go with the micro-seasons — some lasting weeks, others just a day.
