Pubs are closing at an alarming rate. But it’s not all doom and gloom, especially in Barnsley, near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, where The Pig group has worked its magic on what was The Boot and turned it into The Village Pub.
It really is the village pub. On day four after opening, most punters are locals.
They seem proud that the now iconic brand has transformed this 17th-century inn (and is doing something similar across the road at Barnsley House, once home to the great gardener Rosemary Verey).
There are just six rooms in the pub. Ours is the only one with a bath, priced at a hefty £265 (including breakfast, unlike other Pig establishments), and has all the signature features of the nest: sisal flooring in the bedroom; wooden floor in the bathroom; distressed chest of drawers; portrait of a mischievous-looking young woman above the bed; vintage standard lamp; huge exposed beams; a few marshmallows.
Walls are dark green, perhaps a little too dark in a relatively small space. But that’s the theme throughout, making for an attractive ground floor with a copper-topped bar and low ceilings.
The inspector checks in at the Pig group’s newest venture: ‘The Village Pub’ in Barnsley, near Cirencester. Bedrooms feature the chain’s ‘trademark features’: sisal floors, vintage lamps and a distressed chest of drawers
The Village Pub has just six rooms. Pictured to the right is the ‘moody ground floor’
To be here in winter with three or four fires burning will warm the spirit. The standout feature is a high-backed wooden banquet at a table for six, but ours, next to the head of a stuffed bear, is also beautiful, and more chic than shabby.
Head chef Will Parkes, from the Canterbury branch, is in sensational form. His ‘Gentleman’s Relish on Toast’ is a cheerful snack, which we follow with tender beef and a rabbit, leek and bacon pie.
Young ‘pub owner’ (as he is called) Luis recommends a bottle of Norfolk pinot noir. “Trust me,” he says. He’s absolutely right. The same goes for everything about The Village Pub. Along the way I wondered if The Pig might be getting a little predictable. I don’t think so anymore. Trust me.
The inspector stays in the only room with a bath, pictured, which costs him £265 a night
Head chef Will Parkes, who hails from The Pig’s Canterbury branch, is in ‘sensational form’, says The Inspector
