Tuesday 25 October 2016

Time to visit Devon’s heartland

If you’re looking for a new location to try some country pursuits while also indulging in some foodie ones too, then come to us!

We’re offering autumn and winter breaks to appeal to hunting, shooting and fly fishing devotees.

There are lots of outdoor pursuits to enjoy here. Our visitors participate in clay pigeon shooting, red deer safaris and deer stalking trips, as well as a whole host of other activities, even badger watching.

We’re a wonderful base for those looking for a weekend away exploring the Devon side of Exmoor. It’s an area rich with rivers, lakes and a glorious coastline. In the autumn and winter months, there’s the opportunity at the weekends to follow the local staghounds too.

But it’s not just about the great outdoors, we also provide quality accommodation and award-winning, seasonal dishes.

Our pub is set in the idyllic, historic, market town of Bampton, which still boasts a vibrant high street with a traditional butcher, baker and greengrocers.

The area is hugely popular with ramblers and cyclists alike too.

The stunning Exmoor National Park is just six miles from the pub and the beautiful beaches of North and South Devon are only a 40-minute drive away. There’s really no excuse not to book in soon!

Monday 24 October 2016

The traditional butcher is making a comeback

We feel it’s really important to ‘back your local butcher’ in a bid to promote all that is best about produce from the area and we are supporting our town’s butcher shop.

The Butcher Shop in Bampton, which is owned by nearby farmer John Wescott, represents all that is great about locally reared and sourced meat.

There are hundreds of other butchers doing well all over the country like this one as they take seasonality and animal welfare seriously, and we’re supporting this vital resource in our home town.

Our ethos has always been to provide good food, sourced locally wherever possible, while backing other businesses in the community too.

The Butcher Shop in Bampton provides the joints for our popular Sunday roasts and a whole host of other products. You can’t get any fresher or tastier produce than stuff reared nearby.

What’s really important about local butchers is they can provide provenance for all the items they stock and they really are experts. The selection changes each week as they react to supplies that come in.

The beef, lamb and pork comes from selected local farms, including the Wescott’s own farm, and travels less than 30 miles to the local abattoir near Taunton ensuring the smallest possible carbon footprint.

Bampton Butchers has been in Brook Street for several decades and the Wescott family took over the existing business in 2010.

Thursday 20 October 2016

Don’t bypass Bampton…it’s wild and tasty



This part of Devon, which is known as Mid-Devon, is vastly overlooked as a foodie destination with folk preferring to travel to South or North Devon or to go on to Cornwall instead, but it’s full of hidden culinary gems, and somewhere away from the hoards to explore. It’s still got some super wild, remote spots too.

We have a passion for food and embrace the use of produce from the area to create some real pub classics, such as sausages and mash, cod and chips, pies, grilled rump steak and sandwiches with a great choice of sweets to tempt.

Our menu is always created from fresh, seasonal ingredients, sourced from nearby, on a daily basis. We try to keep menus simple, yet bursting with flavours and imagination.

From the freshly baked bread at the start of the meal, to our very own sticky toffee pudding, the kitchen team produces everything at the pub.

We are dedicated to sourcing all the local or regional produce available to us, needless to say we are so lucky living here in the Westcountry, we have local farmers supplying their beef, pork and lamb and the fishing communities providing us with the freshest cod for our classic cod and chips.

Stalking award-winning pub grub in deepest darkest Devon

If you’re looking for a new spot to try some country sports while also indulging in some culinary ones, then the Devon side of Exmoor is the place to go this year.

We’re ideally located to provide breaks that appeal to those who enjoy wildlife-stalking, clay pigeon shooting and fly fishing, while also experiencing some of our award-winning grub.

There are lots of outdoor pursuits to enjoy here in the heart of Devon. You can take part in clay pigeon shoots, red deer safaris and deer stalking trips, as well as a whole host of other options.

We’re a perfect base for those looking for a weekend or mid-week break exploring the Devon side of Exmoor. In the autumn and winter months at weekends there’s the opportunity to follow the local staghounds too.

But it’s not just about the great outdoors, we provide luxury accommodation and award-winning, seasonal food too.

Our AA Four Star Inn (2015), which is the oldest pub in Bampton,has recently scooped a plethora of awards for our food including being voted Best Trencherman’s Pub 2016 and a Visit Devon Tourism Award, Pub of The Year Gold Award (2015). We have two AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence as well