🔗 Share this article

ENGLAND'S BEST PUBS

The General Tarleton, North Yorkshire

Chef Tommy Banks, a celebrated Yorkshire chef, is most famous for his award-winning restaurant Black Swan at Oldstead, but he’s no stranger to pubs. In fact, the Black Swan originally operated as a pub, with Banks working behind the bar at his family’s establishment before moving into the kitchen. Recently, he launched Abbey Inn in Byland, and he has just started a hospitality arm focused on reviving other pubs across the UK. The first project is General Tarleton with eight rooms in Ferrensby village, near Harrogate. The cuisine is exceptional, with refined versions of traditional pub dishes made with regional ingredients – ideal sustenance for walks along the river and into Nidd Gorge, a scenic local area.

The Bat and Ball, Oxfordshire

It’s dogs by the fire and clergy at the bar at this charming pub in the village of Cuddesdon, best known for its clergy college. It was opened at the start of the year by the owners of Lamb Inn in nearby Little Milton, and the chefs at both locations cut their teeth at the esteemed Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons down the road. This pub is the more relaxed option – it even features a dartboard – and menu items elevate classic pub food and enhance them with premium local produce. The five bedrooms have walls painted in deep fall colors to match the surrounding countryside, which is nestled between the Cotswolds and Chilterns.

Kings Arms Inn, Lake District

This family-owned pub, which relaunched at the end of August, is at the center of the Lakeland village of Hawkshead, just a short walk from Beatrix Potter Gallery and the Hawkshead Grammar School museum, where a young William Wordsworth etched his name into his desk. It’s rich in history in oak beams and stone floors at the King’s Arms too, which dates back to the 17th century. At the dark-wood bar is a roster of local beers including Coniston Old Man Ale and Cumbrian Ales Loweswater Gold, while the food leans towards classic with Cumberland scotch eggs and beef wellington. The perfect meal to be enjoying after a stomp up nearby Latterbarrow fell.

Wellington Hotel, Cornish Coast

Affectionately called The Welly, this historic coaching house overlooks Boscastle harbour on the rugged north Cornwall coast. A local brewery recently splashed millions renovating it, and it shows in the snug dining areas, snugs and stained glass panelling. The best rooms are the two in the pub’s turret with freestanding baths, but all 14 come with local art on the walls and OS maps and a South West Coast Path national trail book for walks. The trail passes nearby: heading west to Tintagel Castle, legendary birthplace of King Arthur according to legend, or east towards Pentargon waterfall. Post-hike, there’s pints of local ale by the fire and servings of fish and chips to look forward to, made with local catch in Gem Ale batter.

Woolpack Inn, Hampshire

Fresh from a makeover by influential interior designer Nina Campbell, this country pub is the social hub in the small village of Totford in peaceful Candover Valley. It is surrounded by fields and woodlands, so chef Luke Stradling has plenty of local produce to draw on – supplemented by the pub’s sizeable vegetable garden, right now filled with pumpkin, celeriac and winter leaves. As well as supplying almost all the vegetables on the menu, the team also donates 20% of the harvest to community charities and homeless shelters. Upstairs, eight guest rooms are themed after game birds, but fly fishing is the local star draw – angling for trout in the famous chalk stream of the River Itchen.

The Fleur de Lys, Dorset

Pub and restaurant firm Chickpea has nailed the modern country pubs with rooms formula – great food, welcoming bar and keen prices for overnighters. The latest addition to the fold is the Fleur de Lys, a 17th-century inn in the village of Cranbourne. The novelist Thomas Hardy was a regular guest here and references it in Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The renovation reflects its historical character: hops hang over the large open fireplace, candles glow on tables and, upstairs, the nine bedrooms are decorated in subdued tones. Walking routes loop around Cranborne Estate, with dishes such as Brixham sea bass, venison barnsley chop and sticky toffee pudding to look forward to back at the pub afterwards.

Penny Bun Inn, Yorkshire Dales

Named after a mushroom found in local woods, the Penny Bun is a departure from your traditional boozer. With its earthen walls and earth-toned palette, the look is more wabi-sabi minimalism than traditional pub fixtures. Between Ilkley and Otley in the Yorkshire Dales, the recently opened pub is part of the Denton Reserve, a 2,500-acre estate undergoing a sustainably led transformation, focusing on carbon capture and sustainable agriculture. It supplies many of the ingredients found on the menu at the Penny Bun, such as Tamworth pork croquette salad or beetroot gnocchi. The calming aesthetic particularly suits the five bedrooms (the best room comes with a freestanding bath), with deep beds to sink into after walks across Ilkley Moor, right outside the front door.

Ship Inn, Norfolk Coast

Recently, The Peyton sisters revitalized this historic coastal inn with nine rustic rooms in the village of Brancaster. The cooking here has a light Mediterranean touch, and while menus have a focus on seafood (a short walk from the coast), game from local estates is the star turn in autumn. For Sunday lunch, expect whole pot-roasted venison shoulders served with local wild mushrooms instead of traditional meats, while in the front bar relax by the fireplace and tuck into a mangalitza pork sausage roll or monkfish scampi with a pint of local ale. Outside, Norfolk’s big skies look particularly stunning at this time of year – watch for flocks of migrating pink-footed geese – and walks cut through dunes and marshes.

The Leicester Arms, Kent

Opposite from the entrance to medieval Penshurst Place and Gardens, this historic pub is looking prettier than ever after a £1.2m revamp last year. No wonder it won Kent’s county prize at the 2025 National Bar and Pub Awards: there are plush armchairs by the fire in the bar, real Kentish ales from a local brewery, and cut-above cooking in the dining room. The menu highlights local produce, with Kent lamb scotch egg and oysters from Whitstable, while the 11 botanically named bedrooms are decorated in an attractive heritage style. Four rooms come with clawfoot tubs for post-walk soaks after a stroll around the Penshurst Estate past River Medway, lakes and giant oak trees.

Swan Inn, West Sussex

The two-and-a-half year refurbishment of this Grade II-listed coaching inn in Fittleworth on the edge of the South Downs was worth the wait. Original features from its medieval origins mix with modern comfort in the bar, restaurant and 12 beautifully designed rooms – though it remains “proudly old fashioned”, says the owner. Meals served in the wood-panelled, painting-lined dining room utilize seasonal local produce (wild mushrooms and fresh plum pudding on our visit) and generous breakfasts are served in a barn in the pretty gardens. The old visitor books are interesting: notable guests include JMW Turner, John Constable and Rudyard Kipling. There’s plenty to do nearby, from antique shopping in local villages to downland walks, Petworth House and Arundel castle.

The Nevill Arms, Leicestershire Countryside

With its honeyed hamlets, charming towns and rolling countryside, Welland Valley is in a region sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (like the Cotswolds but without the price tag). The Nevill Arms in the village of Medbourne was revamped in 2023, with 10 bedrooms (including four-posters) spread between the pub and former stables – and soon they’ll add a stone cottage next door too. Culinarily, beef, pork and lamb are sourced from the owner’s farm, while in the blue bar there’s a rotating line up of Langton ales on tap – the most popular of which is an amber ale, Inclined Plane, named after the lift at nearby Foxton Locks.

New Inn, Lancashire Countryside

New owners Ben and Lauren Sandiford assumed the running of this seven-bedroom village inn in April. Ben applied his culinary skills to the kitchen, which now turns out elevated comfort dishes (shepherd's pie with mashed potatoes and cheese or beef pudding) to be eaten in the beamed dining room beside the log burner. The bar attracts locals sipping on