The Kings Arms, Wareham

Facebook page of The Kings Arms - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Kings Arms - www.facebook.com

Nice thatched old pub on main street, 2 bar areas, beams, stone flagged floor. 5 beers from main stream breweries

This is a lovely looking thatched pub dating back to the 1500’s, on the main road through Wareham. The pub has more of a rural feel to it than any of the more modernised pubs in town and retains a multiple room layout. You enter into a corridor which leads you to the main bar in the left hand room, the lounge in the right hand room and a dining room to the rear. The bar area is the nicest spot for a drink, with quarry stone flooring, whitewashed walls and a low wooden beam ceiling. Seating is limited in here, with a nice fireplace taking centre stage and lots of breweriana and brassware has been put on display to distract the eye. The lounge is arguably an overspill for the dining room and has standard seating in a fairly basic space with similar decor to the main bar. We visited for Sunday lunch and therefore found ourselves in the rear dining room where more tables and chairs played host to a constant stream of hungry punters. There are more beer and brewery related items on display and a stack of board games kept the few children present occupied for the required length of time. There is also a dartboard in one corner – unplayable during peak dining hours, but I do remember playing on this board on my one previous visit 16 years ago. Out the back is a large beer garden with nice flowerbeds, some shelter for smokers and good, sturdy tables for summer eating and drinking. There were four ales on when we arrived and I think a fifth might have come on during our stay. I tried the Butcombe Bitter which was an excellent pint and my father has visited on several occasions in the last year or so and tells me the beer is always top notch. A large collection of CAMRA awards in the main bar would seem to attest to this. The bar staff were incredibly friendly and accommodating and the food we had was pretty good too. I’ve been meaning to come back to this place for years and don’t really know why it’s taken me quite so long. It’s a very atmospheric pub that feels like it is at the heart of the local community, whilst also providing good food and drink to outsiders like ourselves. There are a couple of great pubs in Wareham but this one probably tops the pile.

A wonderfully atmospheric traditional town pub in a building dating from the 16th Century, one of the few thatched houses left in the old town. It is well described by Soupy and MM below. Water was provided for the dogs, beer for the humans. The ale choices were Exmoor Ale and Fox, Bombardier, St Austell Proper Job and Ringwood Fortyniner, all in excellent condition and served at the right temperature, plus 4 boxed ciders. Staff and regulars were welcoming and the food was reasonable. They have a few regular events including live music and 'pie and pint' nights. Well deserving of its GBG entry and a must for visitors to the town.

An attractive thatched pub which indicates it is a survivor of the great fire which ripped through Wareham in the 18th century. Three rooms inside plus a bit of drinking corridor between the three areas, the main bar to the front looks to be the oldest part. This has a stone flagged floor, whitewashed roughcast walls, a very low beamed ceiling with a "duck or grouse" sign and a nice inglenook fireplace. Décor includes a variety of brass and copper artefacts around the fireplace, framed CAMRA awards and a pair of old framed Worthington and Double Diamond ads. The side room looked to be a restaurant with tables set although no one was partaking mid afternoon. Through the bit of corridor with a shelf for plonking your pint on to another area to the rear, this looks like an add-on, and a bit separated from the main heart of the pub where all the locals were gathered. There is a dart board in here plus a case of trophies, not for darts but for cricket. It appears Wareham CC are based at the pub and the trophies are all won by them, additionally there is a signed bat commemorating a game between the club and England Seniors in 1998. Beyond this area is a rear garden with cover for the smokers. Beers on handpump were Doom Bar, Butcombe Gold, Ringwood Best and Gale's HSB. Food served, decent value it seems, homemade chilli and rice £7.50, cod, chips & peas £8.50, thick cut sandwiches £4.50. This is a fine pub with that genuine feel of age, the locals were a chatty and friendly bunch. Unfortunately I failed to take a photo as I dived in here to escape a biblical downpour, but the place looks the part as well as being it. Good stuff.