The Digby Tap, Sherborne

A long standing favourite of ours which we have visited on numerous occassions only if for a quick pint breaking our train journey here on the way West to Exeter and beyond. Always a good selection of ales available in this 'olde worlde' pub. Does get very busy on a Friday night but there were enough staff on duty to serve people with a fairly short wait.

A part cream rendered, but mainly undressed stone pub and eatery. It looks Georgian, but is believed to have older elements and was once the Parish workhouse before becoming the Digby Hotel tap room in the 19th century. It has a small front patio area. In the GBG 2010. The interior is an L-shaped open plan room, divided into areas, around the serving bar. The decor is cream and dark wood panel, with some red, French mustardy ceilings, support and ceiling beams and there is a stone fireplace and stone floor. There is a plethora of brewing and beer memorabilia on the walls, as well as Shwepps and other things. There is a pool table in the top area. The service was fine, the clientele seemed to be everyone in the village and a few tourists, i dare say. It is a mobile free zone and there was no TV that i saw and no background music. The place does bar and lunch time menus, but i didn't eat so can't comment on that. Beer; tap stuff with Otter Bitter, Slater's Top Totty, Teinworthy Neap Tide, a decent Yeovil's Glory and a class St Austell HSD on handpull. The best of the three pubs i did in Sherborne by a country mile - crowded whilst the others were quiet. If you visit Sherborne and do not pop in here you should be forced to listen to an entire Victoria Beckham CD to atone.

Visited in October 2010 Bed and breakfasting in Sherborne after Sheffield Wednesday’s game at nearby Yeovil, The CAMRA Good Beer Guide pointed me in the direction of The Digby Tap. Situated in a quietish side street, yet only a stone’s throw away from Sherborne Abbey, it’s an attractive and welcoming ale house style pub with a flagstoned floor and a number of traditionally decorated adjoining rooms serviced by an L shaped bar. Although it doesn’t feel like a particularly old building, part of it apparently dates back to the mid 16th century. The building was originally part of The Digby Hotel and is named after a George Wingfield Digby who was the owner of nearby Sherborne Castle between 1856 and 1863. A photograph of Denholm Elliott is in recognition of the fact that a John Le Carre spy thriller was based in Sherborne and included a number of scenes filmed in the pub. On my recent Saturday evening visit, it was noticeable how busy the pub was compared with other pubs in town. I quickly realised why. As you enter through the main door, note the large enamel Wadworths sign on the right. Do look out for the amusing framed poem entitled “On being excluded from the Guide” with some none too subtle digs at beer anoraks and tickers. In the end room, there’s a snooker table and a framed, but undated, poster advertising the fact that The Digby Tap is “CAMRA Wessex Pub of the Year” and that it is therefore through to the last 16 of the CAMRA National Pub of the Year competition. There’s an outside smoking area at the front of the pub. 4 beers were on – Teignworthy Neep Tide, Black Sheep, Slaters Top Totty and Cotleigh Snowy Ale at prices between £ 2.00p and £ 2.40p, which seems very reasonable indeed to me. The Slaters Top Totty ( £ 2.30p ) was an excellent pint, but the Cotleigh Snowy Ale ( £2.40p ) tasted a bit thin for a beer advertised as a 5% beer. The pub has been a regular fixture in CAMRA Good Beer Guides in recent years. You should make a point in coming here when in Sherborne