The Fox at Oddington

Lower Oddington

A honey-stone inn with a wood-fired heart

The Fox sits at the quiet end of Lower Oddington, a village small enough to drive straight through, three miles or so from Stow-on-the-Wold. It is a nineteenth-century Cotswold inn that came out of a recent refurbishment looking sharper than ever: flagged floors, exposed stone walls, and a big wood-fired oven that anchors the room. It is now part of the Daylesford Stays collection, which shows on the plate. The kitchen turns out reimagined pub classics and wood-fired pizzas built around Daylesford farm produce and other British growers, and it never tips over into fuss.

We come here when we want an evening that unfolds slowly. You start with a pint of something from an independent brewery or a cocktail from the bar, order more than you meant to, and end up staying for pudding. It is a roughly half-hour drive from the cottage, out past Chipping Norton and the Stow lanes, which makes it a proper destination supper rather than a quick one, and worth the run. In warmer months the garden is the place to be; in winter it is all about the fire and the oven.

What the refurbishment has done, to our eye, is smarten the place up without stripping out the character. It still reads as a village pub rather than a restaurant with airs: you can prop up the bar with a pint and a bag of crisps if that is all you are after, or settle into the dining side for a longer meal. The Daylesford connection is not a marketing line here, it is the supply chain, and you can taste the short distance from farm to plate in the vegetables and the meat. That closeness to the source is the thread that runs through everything the kitchen sends out.

What we order here

• From the wood-fired ovenThe pizzas are the signature, blistered and charred straight from the oven that anchors the bar. Good for the children, and honestly good for the adults too.
• Reimagined pub classicsHearty plates built around Daylesford farm produce and British growers. The menu changes with the seasons, so we tend to ask what has just come in.
• Sunday lunchThere is a dedicated Sunday menu, and it is the sort of long, unhurried roast that a fire and a bottle of red were made for.
• A proper drinkModern craft beers from independent British breweries, traditional cask ales, draught cider and hand-mixed cocktails. Rarely do we manage just the one.

Rooms, and knowing before you go

There are six bedrooms upstairs, done in saddle-toned leathers and equestrian touches, plus the Coachman's House, a separate four-bedroom farmhouse opposite the pub, if you have a bigger party. You will not need them staying with us, but they are handy to know about. The Fox is open seven days a week, with the full menu on some days and a lighter snack menu on others, so we always check the current menus and book a table before setting off. A midweek DJ and pizza night runs from time to time, which is either exactly what you want or exactly what you don't, depending on the evening.

If you want the full picture

The Fox works beautifully alongside the rest of the estate. The Daylesford farm shop and cafe is the same world in daytime form, a short drive on, and The Wild Rabbit is its smarter dining sibling. For village-pub nights closer to home, The Horse and Groom at Bourton-on-the-Hill is a favourite of ours. Our guide to eating and drinking in the area runs from farm shops to proper restaurants and everything between.

“We never just have one drink at The Fox. Every visit starts with good intentions and ends with pudding.”

Visit the official site →

Also nearby

• Daylesford · Farm shop & cafe · Daylesford
• The Wild Rabbit · Pub with rooms · Kingham
• The Horse and Groom · Pub · Bourton-on-the-Hill
• The Swan Inn · Pub · Swinbrook