The Swan at Kingston, Taunton

We were staying in holiday accommodation nearby and utilised the Swan for an evening meal. Now opened out internally to a single long room with a central bar with bar stools as you enter and then seating areas left and right set to tables for dining and a really impressive stone fireplace at the end of the left hand section. And then a door to the left of the bar leads out to a spacious garden outback. A couple of real ales on the three pumps on the bar and I went for the Dartmoor Brewery Jail Ale which was in fine condition and went down rather too well on a fine weather evening. The pub meals we experienced were excellent in terms of quality and quantity and along with very good service levels from the landlord and landlady, who I believe have not been in situ for that long at the Swan, we enjoyed our visit here. We entered to find locals in situ on the bar stools clustered around the bar, friends and family and other travellers on the tables either side, ales being drunk, food being consumed and the sound of conversation filling the air. It made me think that when a wise man once said “When you have lost your inns, drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of England,” the Swan is probably the type of place he was referring to.

An 18th Century village pub which offers home-cooked food. There is a car park at the back whose entrance is quite close to a blind bend so can be hazardous. There is a pleasant, tidy garden at the side which is wonderful when the Sun’s out. The main bar is formed from knocking through three earlier rooms, and is now well decorated and a good place to eat and drink. The landlord is sociable, the landlady less so, while dogs are welcomed and have biscuits provided from a jar on the bar. Seating is an even mix of barstools, tables and comfy chairs, and there is a large stone fireplace at one end, all making it feel very homely. Ales on were Tribute, Boondoggle and Jail Ale, all in pretty good condition. Music on the HiFi was from Slade. All in all, a good place to spend time, and I’ll be very happy to come back.

Official site of The Swan at Kingston - www.swanpubkingston.co.uk

Official site of The Swan at Kingston - www.swanpubkingston.co.uk