Check In, Dine Out: The Castle Inn, Castle Combe
For the latest instalment of The Knife’s ‘Check In, Dine Out’ series, we head to Castle Combe in the Wiltshire Cotswolds – regularly voted the country's prettiest village.
We're here for The Castle Inn – a former coaching inn with a two AA Rosette kitchen, where a weekend away can be arranged around the rather pleasing prospect of dinner downstairs.
A Room on the Old Market Square
Castle Combe has had its share of screen time, from Stardust to War Horse, and it’s easy to see why. The stone cottages huddle close to the road as it dips towards the By Brook, where the bridge is usually the first stop for anyone with a camera. In autumn the light goes early, which makes a good argument for checking in and seeing the village again in the morning, before the day visitors arrive.
The inn stands by the medieval Market Cross and dates back to the 12th century. It belongs to the same collection as the neighbouring Manor House, though the scale here is altogether more intimate. There are 12 individually designed en-suite bedrooms, with period features and contemporary interiors. The Signature Room has an emperor-size bed and a walk-in shower, while the aptly named Shoebox has a single bed and its own shower room. We'd recommend trying to get room with a view over the village, especially on a morning when there’s no particular hurry to get out of bed.
Breakfast is served in the conservatory. Afterwards, anyone who’s packed boots can pick up the Macmillan Way for a four-mile circuit through Long Dean and Ford, returning along the opposite bank through beech woods.
If the weather closes in, St Andrew’s Church is just off the square. It’s worth stepping inside for the stained glass and the old stonework, especially if all you’ve seen of Castle Combe is the view that makes it onto the postcards. The churchyard is a quiet spot to pause before heading back in.
A Pint Before Dinner
The open fire is right beside the bar, which makes the question of where to settle when you come in from the cold fairly easy to answer. There are local ales on tap and small-batch ciders, as well as a wine list for anyone moving through to the dining room. On a milder afternoon, take your drink out front and watch the village go by.
There’s a useful bit of flexibility in the way the pub serves food. From Monday to Saturday, the ‘Inn Between’ menu fills the gap between lunch and dinner, when a walk that ran long might otherwise leave you waiting until six. The sample ploughman’s has Bath Soft Cheese, smoked mackerel, piccalilli and cranberry ketchup among its accompaniments. You can also keep it simple with milk bread and Marmite butter, an idea that feels tailor-made for a second pint.
What James Boniface Puts on the Table
Head Chef James Boniface cites Anthony Bourdain as an influence. His starting point is British pub cooking, with French and Spanish touches and an eye on what’s in season. It helps to have the Manor estate next door. On the sample autumn dinner menu its leeks go into soup with a cave-aged cheddar scone, while rainbow chard from the garden is paired with Crown Prince squash, almonds and pesto. Giving the squash a main course of its own makes the autumn vegetables part of the reason to order dinner here.
A pork and Stornoway black pudding terrine shows how comfortably French technique fits into this kitchen. Pear brings a little sweetness to the plate, with bitter leaves and almond alongside. Then there’s the ox cheek pie with creamy mash and swede (The Knife's personal favourite); it's the sort of order that can settle the matter before you’ve read to the bottom of the menu. It’s worth reading that far, though! Boniface gives line-caught pollock the chip-shop curry sauce treatment, with potato and butternut saag aloo alongside. It’s an appealing bit of play with a flavour most of us know from a paper-wrapped takeaway.
There’s a daily specials board as well. The Michelin Guide singles out local game when it’s in season, so it’s worth a look before ordering; there was both pigeon and venison on the board when we visited.
Among the regular pub favourites on the autumn menu, the burger comes with Ogleshield cheese, a jam made with ’nduja and pickles from the Manor garden, giving it more to say than the usual cheeseburger.
For pudding, the menu makes a good case for lingering over a coffee custard tart with crème fraîche ice cream. Sticky toffee pudding comes with butterscotch and vanilla ice cream, as it should on an evening when you’ve already committed to the pie. There’s also Camembert with honey and cranberry if the table would rather share something savoury to finish.
Sunday, at Your Own Pace
The Sunday roast runs from noon until eight, which gives you a bit of freedom on the last day of a weekend away. The sample menu includes rare roast Hereford-Angus sirloin with horseradish and Kelmscott Farm pork loin stuffed with sausage and served with apple sauce. There’s a squash and lentil Wellington, too. Roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings are part of the deal, along with braised red cabbage, greens from the Manor garden and a cauliflower and broccoli cheese that has as much claim to space on the table as the gravy boat.
Check out after breakfast, spend an hour or two over at Westonbirt Arboretum, then come back to Castle Combe for a proper meal before getting on the road. There’s something satisfying about giving Sunday lunch the best part of the afternoon, especially when it means the weekend ends at the table instead of in a queue for the motorway.
