Batcombe, Somerset
Margot Henderson’s country cooking in a seventeenth-century coaching inn tucked into a fold of Somerset near Bruton. Pies, puddings and plates of whatever the season has delivered, with wine chosen by people who drink it. As close to perfection as the English pub gets.
Slad, near Stroud, Gloucestershire2. The Woolpack InnAfter the Golden Lion, probably the best pub in Britain. Laurie Lee’s local, clinging to the side of the valley he made famous in Cider…C
Chicksgrove, Wiltshire8. The Compasses InnA fourteenth-century thatched inn down a sunken lane in the Nadder valley, all flagstones, high-backed settles and candlelight. Simplicity…B
Barrington, Somerset75. The Barrington BoarA village pub with rooms and a kitchen that sends the local larder out in its Sunday best.B
Longleat, Wiltshire76. The Bath ArmsA creeper-clad inn at the gates of Longleat. Ancient, handsome and entirely at ease with itself.B
Fonthill Gifford, Wiltshire77. The Beckford ArmsA Georgian inn on the edge of the Fonthill estate, with a parlour fire, a fine wine list and rooms of real charm. The model of the modern…C
Tavistock, Devon78. The Cornish ArmsA proper market-town pub with skilful, unfussy cooking. Dartmoor on the doorstep.All the best pubs in the South West and the CotswoldsAll one hundred pubs