The kind of pub you picture when someone says “country gastropub” and actually means it. Exposed beams, flagstone floors, a proper fire going in winter, and food that takes its ingredients seriously without taking itself too seriously. It's ten minutes from the cottage, in the quiet village of Churchill near Kingham.
Churchill sits in the rolling country between Chipping Norton and Stow-on-the-Wold, and The Chequers is the kind of place that makes you grateful it hasn't been “discovered” in the way that word usually implies. The room is handsome rather than showy: worn flagstones, dark beams, candles on the tables, a fire that smells of applewood. You could walk in wearing muddy boots and nobody would blink. The beer comes from local breweries (Hook Norton is never far away), and the wine list is short but chosen with real care.
The food is what you hope for: seasonal, well sourced, cooked with confidence. Expect something like braised ox cheek with root vegetables, or a perfectly simple roast chicken on a Sunday, alongside lighter plates and good pub classics. Portions are generous. Dogs are welcome, which is a blessing if you've been walking the footpaths around the Tew valley. We tend to go on a weekday evening when it's quieter, settling in by the fire with a pint and staying longer than we planned. It's that sort of place.
“Relaxed, unpretentious, and the food is consistently good. If you only visit one pub during your stay, make it this one.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.