Scott Arms, Kingston, Wareham

Located at the top of a steep hill in the tiny Dorset village of Kingston, this is a fabulous multiple room pub with a great historic interior and one of the best beer gardens in the county. Entering through the front door, you find yourself in a stone floored corridor which leads through to an old service hatch – possibly a former bottle and jug. The corridor has been decorated with a photo montage showing the 1977 filming of the Mayor of Casterbridge starring Alan Bates, part of which took place at the pub. To the right, there is the upper bar which has a servery along the rear wall and a good amount of traditional seating through the rest of this rather bright space. The bar has a nice, rough-cut Purbeck stone counter and a more basic bar back and the room is decorated with lots of traditional pictures, photos and typical rural pub items. To the left of the corridor, there are two dining rooms, with hard bench and chair seating throughout. The first room has an amazing inglenook fireplace on the left hand wall with a lovely curved beam above. It was lit on our visit, making for a nice, cosy spot from which to enjoy our lunch. Black and white photos of various Dorset villages through time line the walls, which are mostly exposed local stone, giving the space a lot of character. Passing the left hand side of the serving hatch, some steps take you down, past a small landing area with a single table and sofa on it, to the rather fine, lower back bar. Here, the servery is along the front wall, facing an angular shaped seating area beyond, full of mostly standard tables and chairs and with another great inglenook fireplace on the end wall. Large windows look out to the beer garden and Corfe castle which can be clearly seen in the distance. A corridor to the left of this part of the pub has been decorated with various old maps of Dorset and leads you out to the the toilets and beer garden. The garden is a split-level space with lots of picnic benches and tables, including one made from an old millstone, plus some quarry stone seats. There is a kitchen serving hatch known as the Jerk shack, which opens in the summer and serves Caribbean cuisine and other BBQ goodies in the warmer months. The views of the castle from this garden are pretty much peerless and I would imagine the place gets pretty much packed out as soon as the sun puts in an appearance. One quirky feature of the garden is the gravestone of Michael Henchard – a BBC prop for the fictional character from Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge, which was left behind after filming. The pub is child and dog friendly and can get very busy with family groups descending en masse at the weekends. The pub usually stocks local ales and on our visit they had four brews from the DBC brewery on handpull – Durdle Door, Dorset Knob, Origin and Jurassic Bitter. The Origin was in good shape and served to us by a cheery but slightly scatty barmaid. We came here for some food and found the Sunday roasts to be very good quality with good portion sizes and efficient service. This is a fantastic pub that really captures the feel of a traditional Dorset village pub well. There are many rooms to explore, each with their own interesting features, making return visits a must, and the beer garden and its views are worth the trek out here alone. This is one of my favourite pubs in the county and I eagerly await my next visit.

A Victorian village pub with a slightly hazardous car park and a Caribbean-style garden barbecue area. The Caribbean influence is also reflected in the home-cooked food, which is of an excellent standard and nicely complements the more traditional food which is on offer. The barbecue food, only available in the Summer months, was highlighted on BBC’s Countryfile. There is a dining area which is easily able to cater for large groups as well as couples, while the two tile-floored bars also have tables for diners. Four real ales on draft, plus a cider. I managed pints of DBC Jurassic and Durdle Dor, and Ringwood Bitter which were perfectly kept and most enjoyable. There was also an unusual selection of Somerset apple brandies, something a bit different. Staff were extremely welcoming, the other clientele were a mixed bag of civilised drinkers and diners, and the overall experience was very pleasant. Highly recommended for its food and drink.

Food and drink ok but probably the best view from a pub garden you could wish for!(See attached image)

Official site of the Scotts Arms, contains menus, real ale details and event listings - www.thescottarms.com

Official site of the Scotts Arms, contains menus, real ale details and event listings - www.thescottarms.com