Prince Leopold Inn, Warminster

A great village pub as described below. The car park was full of badly parked 4WD vehicles when we arrived, and there was a line of recently-shot pheasants hanging from the fence. Inside, all the tables were booked for diners, so we stood at the bar to enjoy our well-kept beer: Butcombe Original and Chris Moose, and Doombar were on offer, very well kept and most enjoyable. The staff were being badgered by a pair of entitled elderly ramblers all who wouldn’t shut up, meaning service was very slow, but that wasn’t really the pub’s fault. Food is locally sourced, and prices are reasonable for both food and beer. The location is superb, the ambiance is agreeable and it’s overall an enjoyable place to spend time.

A slightly uninspiring looking, brick built pub at the end of a dead end lane, it certainly wouldn’t get anything in the way of passing trade and we only called in because we saw it signposted from the main road. Food seems to be very much of a focus here, although that’s probably inevitable given it’s location. We didn’t inspect the menu, but did notice a good selection of dishes on the specials board, with most of the main courses coming in around £12 - £16. That said, there were a few locals propping up the bar on our Saturday afternoon visit. The main bar at the front of the pub is relatively small with only a couple of tables, and one of these was laid up for food. It’s appearance it perhaps a little more contemporary than might be expected with a sanded wood floor and a three sided square bar counter clad in pale green wood panelling. A snug to the left was a cosy spot with a couple of old leather sofas, a brick fireplace with piles of logs stacked up on either side and a selection of board games on a shelf. As befits it’s rural position, a number of shooting magazines were on the table as well as a stuffed boar’s head, fox head and a set of deer antlers mounted on the wall. There were even a couple of pheasants hanging from the coat hook! A flagstone corridor leads to the rear of the pub, where there is a good sized dining room off to the right as well as a function room in an extension right at the back which appeared to be prepared ready for a birthday party on our visit. The USP of the pub though is probably the beer garden, which is an idyllic spot with a river running along the bottom and rolling fields opposite. Beers on tap were slightly unimaginative perhaps with just Butcombe and London Pride, whilst the ciders were Thatcher’s Gold and Haze.