The Feathered Nest
Perched on a quiet hilltop in Nether Westcote, with views rolling down through farmland to the Evenlode.
Perched on a quiet hilltop in Nether Westcote, with views rolling down through farmland to the Evenlode.
The Feathered Nest sits on a quiet lane in Nether Westcote, a small stone village on the Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire border, just south of Kingham and a few minutes from Stow-on-the-Wold. The building is an old malthouse, several hundred years in the making, and it wears its history lightly. Inside there are flagstones, a proper fire and low beams; outside, a garden and terrace that fall away to a view of the Evenlode Valley rolling toward the Cotswold ridge. We come here when we want an occasion rather than a quick supper, and it has never once let us down.
What has always drawn us in is that it manages to be a serious restaurant and a genuine country pub at the same time. The dining room holds three AA Rosettes and takes its cooking seriously, but you can just as easily settle into the bar with a pint and something from the shorter menu, dog at your feet, and feel entirely at home. It is the rare place that suits a milestone birthday and a rainy Sunday equally well.
The kitchen cooks modern British food that leans hard on the seasons and on local growers and farms. Expect precise, ingredient-led plates rather than anything fussy or showy, with a tasting menu for the evenings you want to slow right down, an a la carte, and a Sunday lunch that is worth building a whole afternoon around. We would always steer you toward a table by the windows if you can get one; the light over the valley shifts through the meal and is half the reason to book. The wine list is long and thoughtfully put together, and the staff are happy to point you somewhere sensible if you would rather they chose.
A quick note on planning. The inn is open through most of the week but does close on a couple of days, and both the restaurant and its handful of bedrooms get booked up well ahead, especially for weekend dinner and Sunday lunch. Rather than repeat hours that can shift with the season, we would check the current days and times and reserve directly on their own site before you set off. It is not the kind of place to turn up to on the off chance.
Nether Westcote is around half an hour from Well Cottage, roughly thirteen miles by road. The easy way is out through Chipping Norton and on toward Kingham, then up the lane into the village, all of it quiet Cotswold country the whole way. It sits handily close to plenty of our other favourites, so it slots neatly into a day around Kingham, Daylesford and Stow. For the full picture, our guide to eating and drinking in the area runs from village pubs to farm-to-table kitchens and everything in between.
If the Nest is full, or you fancy something a little more relaxed, you are spoilt for choice nearby. The Kingham Plough and Wild Rabbit are both a short drive on the same side of the border, and the farm shop and cafe at Daylesford make an easy lunch before or after.
“The view from your table alone is worth the trip. Pair it with the tasting menu on a long summer evening and you'll understand why we keep going back.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.