The Bell Inn, Aldworth

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The Bell Inn
The Bell pub, Aldworth - geograph.org.uk - 583526.jpg
The Bell Inn, Aldworth
Location within Berkshire
General information
Type Public house
Location Aldworth, West Berkshire, England, UK
AddressBell Lane, Aldworth, RG8 9SE
Coordinates 51°30′48″N1°12′02″W / 51.5132°N 1.2006°W / 51.5132; -1.2006

The Bell Inn is a pub at the village of Aldworth, in the English county of West Berkshire. It won CAMRA's National Pub of the Year in 1990, and received the accolade again for 2019. It is a Grade II listed building and is the only pub in Berkshire with a Grade II listed interior. It is also on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

The pub is built of brick with a timber frame, and is said to have once been a medieval hall house or manor house before it became a pub. It was built in the 15th century or possibly earlier, with C17 and C19 alterations and a C20 addition. It has two rooms, a large panelled tap room with inglenook fireplace and quarry-tiled floor, and a smaller L-shaped room. The bar itself is a servery with sliding glass partitions and hatches, and has no bar fittings at all save for ebony handpumps, which were fitted in 1902. [2] [4] [6] [7]

Besides its listing and awards, the pub is also notable for having been owned and run by the same family continuously since the 18th century. The pub is a free house and sells beers from a number of local breweries, as well as its famous filled rolls. It is popular with locals, as well as walkers on the nearby Ridgeway. [3] [7] [8]

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References

  1. ↑ Brandwood, Geoff (2013). Britain's best real heritage pubs. St. Albans: CAMRA. pp. 19–20. ISBN   9781852493042.
  2. 1 2 Historic England. "The Bell public house (1117177)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  3. 1 2 "'Unchanged' family-run pub named best in the UK". BBC News. 12 February 2020. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  4. 1 2 Price, Katherine (12 February 2020). "Bell Inn in Aldworth wins Camra Pub of the Year". The Caterer. London: The Caterer. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "Bell, Aldworth (The Campaign for Real Ale)". Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  6. ↑ Hancock, David (2006). Pubs and Inns of England and Wales. Alastair Sawday. ISBN   978-1-901970-71-5.
  7. 1 2 Smithers, Rebecca (12 February 2020). "The Bell Inn, Berkshire, named Camra's pub of the year". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  8. ↑ Tom Jones (2013). Mad Dogs and Englishmen: A Year of Things to See and Do in England. Ebury Publishing. p. 110. ISBN   978-0-7535-4957-5.
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