The Fleece, Witney

Official site of The Fleece - whatpub.com

Official site of The Fleece - whatpub.com

The Fleece is situated in a nice location facing church green. Once inside the pub is split into a drinking area to the front and dining to the rear,the front area is oblong shaped and runs the width of the pub,the bar is to the front left,the room bare boarded,the seating is different types of tables and chairs,the rear area of the room is set aside for diners. The pub is a Greene King tied house,there were three real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Belhaven Golden Bay which went down well,the other beers were Old Speckled Hen and GK IPA. There is a pleasant outside seating area facing church green for warmer weather which was full on our Saturday dinner visit. This is more of a dining pub than drinkers pub but the front area at least is set aside for drinkers which is a good thing. Pub visited 16/5/2015

First impressions led me to expect little in spite of a fine building in a lovely setting on Witney's picturesque Church Green, a central grass area lined with Georgian and later Cotswold stone buildings. A Greene King pub with a foody/bar mindset. Tables and chairs dominate the back of the open plan layout while the front has tall tables and chairs at one end and a mix of leather armchairs and sofas around a collection of distressed wooden tables and chairs. Each table had a small glass bowl containing what appeared to be a dead flower, at least it makes a change from bloody candles. The three handpumps dispense IPA, Old Speckled Hen and a more welcome York Guzzler, I guess as a guest. How this lot make York Guzzler taste quite so poor is a bit of a mystery, warm, flat and with even a hint of GK's trade mark diacetyl, line not pulled through maybe. The usual keg line up would probably have offered a better drink. Not a place that detained me very long.