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Detail Pages
Axe & Compasses, Great Dunmow
Aythorpe Roding
Postal town: Great Dunmow
CM6 1PP
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Axe & Compasses
A pleasant looking, part-thatched roadside pub, it consist of a couple of smallish gardens at either end and a somewhat quirky interior arranged across three rooms with a central bar counter. Décor wise it’s a good mix of old and new, with some very old timberwork in places but much more contemporary touches as well.
The main bar area is in the middle of the pub with somewhat limited seating perhaps, predominantly a few stools at the bar counter with many of the other tables elsewhere being laid up for food. Sheepskin throws on the back of all the chairs were an unusual touch, but perhaps not best suited to the current very warm weather. Flooring was wood strip and there was some unusual and colourful wallpaper with various birds on, as well as white or pale blue wood panelling on the lower part of the walls. The low ceiling was a little wonky and had plenty of beams, some in the more traditional black and others that had been painted white. A free standing brick chimney breast separated two of the rooms, although the fire had been removed and a selection of flowers were in it’s place. A small TV was up on one wall which looked a little out of place perhaps, but fortunately this was not in use. The smaller room to the left had a lovely arched roof and a stuffed peacock sat up in the rafters.
The menu offered a decent looking selection of pub grub dishes, and our prawn and crayfish sandwiches were pretty decent and good value. Served with crisps rather than the more usual chips, and a decent side salad that included grapes and radishes, they were just the job for our lunchtime pit stop. As is the vogue in many pubs these days, there were also a few muffins on the end of the bar.
Beers on tap were Fat Sprat and Ghost Ship from Adnams along with London Pride. Ciders meanwhile were Symonds Founders Reserve and Old Rosie. All in all, well worth stopping by.
On 18th July 2018
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1948 recommendations about 1861 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Axe & Compasses
Fabulous Pub with great food and good menu, staff very friendly and helpful. Low ceilings in main bar only a few inches above my head. Very well kept Ales. On handpump Nethergate Suffolk County, Nethergate IPA and served straight from the cask were Nethergate Lemon Head, Sharps Doom Bar and Wells Waggle Dance. Traffic noise not an issue unless you are sitting outside at front of pub. Will defo return.
On 30th July 2011
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Philip Gaskin left this review about Axe & Compasses
This is an attractive part thatched pub with charm and character inside. It is a bit of shame it is on a straight section of road as the sound of the traffic passing at speed intrudes into the pub. Nethergate IPA and Suffolk County on hand pumps, with six barrels behind the bar served by gravity. Friendly service, a good food selection and a nice place to be in. We will visit again.
On 5th May 2011
- rating: 8
[User has posted 202 recommendations about 169 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
. Wittenden left this review about Axe & Compasses
Attractive roadside pub, part thatched, that has been sympathetically restored after a major fire a few years back. Rural Essex, away from the Estuary has wonderful scenery: we sat by the window overlooking open countryside in the gathering dusk, with the church tower of High Easter illuminated by the setting sun. Inside there’s one long bar,mainly laid up for dining, but attracting plenty of drinkers as well.
The bar staff were welcoming and jolly, and the food was good value, though we’d already eaten well that day. As I recall, I rather enjoyed a broadbean risotto.The pub has a decent selection of East Anglian beers-Nethergate Suffolk County Best Bitter, which I found too sweet, Nethergate IPA, which for a low ABV beer packed a decent body of hops, Oulton Ales Orange wheat Beer and Sharps ubiquitous Doom Bar. The latter two were not tried, even though they were on gravity dispense, along with various ciders and perries.
Rather engagingly, the pub seems to hold a shrine to an obscure early breakfast cereal-‘Force’ and it’s somewhat bizarre advertising character, ‘Sunny Jim’. Not bad at all.
On 8th October 2010
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 283 recommendations about 282 pubs]