Blue Boar Hotel, Chipping Norton

Located in a prime position in the centre of Chipping Norton’s High Street, this is an attractive and traditional looking pub with a few tables and chairs on a small patio at the front. Internally it’s clearly been renovated at some point, and whilst not unpleasant, it doesn’t perhaps have quite the olde worlde charm that I had hoped for. It’s obviously been opened out too at some point, and what was separate rooms and presumably a corridor, is all now interconnected rooms, although there are still some large supporting stone pillars in situ along with some enormous wooden lintels. Sanded wooden boards were on the floor, with a fairly plain, whitewashed ceiling. Even the beams had been painted over in many places which was rather a shame. Walls were mostly either exposed stonework or plaster painted in an aqua blue colour, and a few random pictures were dotted around the walls, as well as some stags heads and so on above the large stone fireplace. A snug off to the left had a TV screen up in the corner showing the football but the volume was off so this was not too intrusive. Beers on tap were both from Young’s with their London Special and London Original, whilst a third pump appeared unused. The solitary cider meanwhile was a rather disappointing Aspall’s. Prices seemed expensive with two pints coming in at £12.50. The barman seemed friendly enough and overall I thought this was a decent enough pub, I just can’t help feeling that it’s lost a lot of the charm that it probably had at one time.

Official site of Blue Boar Hotel - www.blueboarpub.co.uk

Official site of Blue Boar Hotel - www.blueboarpub.co.uk