The Royal Standard of England, Beaconsfield

This is a stunning old rural pub with a very large, multiple room interior, located in a small village to the North of Beaconsfield. You enter though the main front door to a brick floored corridor with unusual, barrel-style, curved wall panelling. To the left is a small side room with pew seating, whilst a second such room offering similar seating appears a little further back, also to the left. There are lots of dark ceiling beams throughout, whilst the timbers also cross various walls, painted mainly in cream or red. Stained glass windows, attractive old doors and a few beautifully carved pews with high backs add to the traditional feel of these spaces. The servery appears at the end of the corridor and has a great dark wood counter, broken by various decorative support posts along its length, and a fine matching bar back adorned with years worth of randomly accumulated bits and bobs including lots of tankards and a yard of ale at the far end. A front snug-like space can be found opposite, with a lit fireplace and a few more seats, including the inside of the barrel effect panelling seen from corridor, here formed into an impressive bench. To the right is a large dining room with a fine vaulted ceiling and lots of tables and chairs split across two levels, with a few sofas and armchairs thrown into the mix. A huge lit fireplace with a grand stone surround dominates the far wall and there are plenty of taxidermy animal heads on display plus some large tapestries, cushions, a model of a woman holding a lamp, shotguns, sabres, centurion helmets and much more. There's a great stained glass pane opposite the bar and lots of medieval tapestry style art in the side rooms. A final dining space to rear, wasn't explored on this visit and the general impression was that it would take a great many visits to properly explore all that this pub has to offer. The plus points extend to the bar, where a good row of handpulls were dispensing Rebellion Roasted Nuts and IPA, Chiltern Beechwood Bitter and Pale Ale and Windsor & Eton Conqueror, with one pump out of action. Service was friendly and the food smelt amazing, although the place was pretty quiet on my Saturday morning visit. I thought this was an outstanding pub with much to recommend. The farmhouse-style interior was a nice, rarely seen treat, whilst the vast dining room full of esoteric items could keep you entertained for hours. The beer range was solid too, making this a genuine destination pub and one I hope I'll make it back to some day. Date of visit - 16th March 2024

Rightly on CAMRA's historic pub interios register,this pub is accessed by narrow Chiltern lanes, has elements from the 13th century and a wealth of features. It's on a large L shaped plot carefully extended over the centuries to create a large interior.The entrance from the large carpark through the pub garden has a magnificent feature to one side of a vast curved barrel devide with a small door set into the barrel shape giving access to a charming snug.The quarry tiled corridor winds to the bar,wood panelled and traditional.Low beams abound,there are small dining tables,some in pew design before reaching the King Charles room which extends to the right.This has a barn style vaulted roof but also lots of nooks and crannies with some alcove dining tables.High in the rafters are stuffed animals ,standards and other old ephemera,just dialled back enough to avoid looking touristy.Due to Covid restrictions I couldnt explore the left sided candle room sadly. There is extensive external seating around the whole exterior and the overall Jacobian feel is very authentic.Although there is a hamlet surrounding the pub and the housing of Forty Green isnt far away,most punters arrive by car and will be looking to dine.The menu is not overlong with pies and sausages prepared on the premises and proper cooking takes place.Prices are at a premium due to the surroundings with a median main £18 and nothing under £13,quality was good.Similarly all real ale £5 with what appears to be a permanent range of Chiltern Pale (NBSS 3).Brakspear Gravity,Windsor & Eton Conqueror Black IPA,Rebellion IPA and Roasted Nuts.A decent selection of Locales,there are also artisan ciders,and some interesting bottles including Owd Rodger which used to feature on draught. For history this is a must visit,choose a quiet time and explore.Make sure you have charged your wallet beforehand!

Official site of The Royal Standard of England - www.rsoe.co.uk

Official site of The Royal Standard of England - www.rsoe.co.uk