The Fleece Inn

The Fleece Inn is the perfect rural retreat just a stone's throw from the beautiful Cotswold's boasting roaring open fires for the winter months, open garden and apple orchard for the summer sun and a friendly welcome all year round. With real ales and traditional ciders aplenty this historical pub is a favourite with Real Ale lovers and the welcoming atmosphere and good food attract visitors from all over the world.   

The Fleece Inn is without equal in England and has played an enormous part in six centuries of Cotswold history.

It was originally built as a longhouse in the time of Chaucer by a farmer named Byrd and remained in the ownership of a single family for virtually the whole time. It has remained largely undisturbed in its architecture since the mid 17th century.

A pub steeped in history like The Fleece has many stories to tell. The building was already 71 years old when the Lancastrians marched by on their way to final defeat in the Wars of the Roses at the Battle of Tewksbury, and it was 200 years old when the Gunpowder Plotters rode past on their ill-fated attempt to blow up Parliament.

Its last private owner, Miss Lola Taplin, was a famous local character at The Fleece (or 'The Ark' as is was known to the local folk). A direct descendent of the man who built the inn, she lived in it for all her 77 years until she passed away in 1977 in front of the fire in the snug. Lola bequeathed the inn to The National Trust making it the first pub in the country to be owned by the charity.

Lola is fondly remembered in The Fleece and local folklore has it that she still watches over the pub and its people in the incarnation of an owl that sits on the ridge of the thatched barn.

Now you can visit to view this national Trust protected Inn on special days such as the first Morris Dance of the year in May, or to hail the Asparagus festival harvest.