The Blue Boar
Chipping Norton's oldest coaching inn has been pouring pints since 1641. It's the kind of place where you walk in for a quick drink and end up staying for supper, which is exactly how a good pub should work.
Chipping Norton's oldest coaching inn has been pouring pints since 1641. It's the kind of place where you walk in for a quick drink and end up staying for supper, which is exactly how a good pub should work.
The Blue Boar sits on the high street in Chipping Norton, ten minutes from the cottage by car. It's a proper town pub: stone floors, low ceilings, a fire going in the colder months. The building has been here since the English Civil War, and while plenty has changed since then, the welcome hasn't. The menu leans seasonal and British, with good steaks, generous pies, and a Sunday roast that fills the dining room by midday. They keep a thoughtful wine list alongside the local ales, and the staff are relaxed without being inattentive.
What we like about the Blue Boar is that it never tries too hard. Chippy (as locals call the town) has a quiet confidence about it, and this pub matches the mood perfectly. It's a good first-night stop when you've arrived at the cottage and want somewhere familiar and unfussy, or a natural place to gather before heading to a show at the Theatre. Booking is wise at weekends, though midweek you can usually walk straight in.
“First-night choice when you've just arrived and want something reliable. Order the pie, sit by the fire, and don't rush.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.