The Windmill Inn, Stratford Central, Stratford-Upon-Avon

The Windmill Inn is another of Stratford’s fine historic pubs, built in 1599 and converted to a public house the following year. It is, perhaps inevitably, thought to have been frequented by Shakespeare, as he bought a property just around the corner a couple of years before the pub opened and lived there until his death in 1616. The pub apparently has the longest continuous license in Stratford. Inside, there is an odd, multiple room layout, with wooden floors and lots of beams and pillars, some of which look ancient whilst others are clearly fake. The main bar area is to the rear left and has an enormous open fireplace on the back wall with an old set of bellows on the hearth and a lit fire in the middle. To our disbelief, there was a free table opposite the fireplace, so we quickly grabbed it and were able to warm ourselves up after a bracing walk around town in the morning. The front of the pub has two carpeted dining rooms either side of the entrance with fairly standard seating options and a single TV screen. By weaving your way through the pillars, you can access a paved garden to the rear and side of the pub which has a few smart benches. This is now a Greene King house, so beer choice included their Abbot Ale and Old Speckled Hen plus a local guest in the shape of Purity Ubu. The Ubu was in excellent shape and went down very well. Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for the food, which we found to be quite sloppy and overpriced, which was a shame, as we enjoyed spending a bit of time in here. Maybe they’ve got complacent with the guaranteed tourist trade or perhaps we just got unlucky. Although it seems to have been knocked about a bit inside, this place still retains enough of an historic feel to make it worth a look. The beer, whilst not the most exciting, was at least in great shape and for a tourist driven pub, it’s pretty good and worth adding to your itinerary.

Nice old building, lots of beams that have been cleaned and light coloured, not sure if all the ceiling ones are original though. A couple of real ales and a brief menu, but the quality of the food is good, the beer as well was decent. Worth a visit, especially as it seems less busy than others, probably because its slightly off the main tourist drag.

I liked this pub. and the atmosphere was great. I tried a pint of UBU which i didnt like, the beer looked in good condition and was bright and clear but not for me i had flowers instead which was good.

A fantastic white rendered terraced pub and eatery with dormer windows and a nice beer garden. It sports the name of the Flower's Brewery, once of Stratford and claims to have had a licence since 1600. The interior is a T-shape, with the bar on the left at the stem of the T, when entering from the central main entrance. The decor is mainly white, with ceiling and support beams. I stood at the bar and there was a nice large brick fireplace in this room. There were some slightly arty black & white photos of Stratford buildings on the walls. The service was really good, as were the locals, several of which i ended up chatting to about Stratford and Shakey - i enjoyed it here so much, i missed my train and had to get the next one. There was no TV that i saw and the background music was general and at a good level. Beer; tap stuff with GK IPA, Purity Ubu and a really good Flowere Original on handpull - guzzled a couple of these. Along with the Bear (for beer range), the Windmill is for me now is a not to be missed pub in Stratford. I will be back here.