The Beckford Arms
“Excellent food in elegant coaching inn with lovely garden” - AA Inspector
FONTHILL GIFFORD, WILTSHIRE
Our View
Just three minutes from the A303, this handsome 18th-century coaching inn is set on the edge of the beautiful rolling parkland of Lord Margadale’s 10,000-acre Fonthill Estate. Once a stopping point for weary travellers on the way from London to the South West, this elegant dining pub is now a destination in its own right. You can eat wherever you want, either in the main bar with its huge fireplace and parquet floor or in the separate restaurant. In summer, head out into the rambling garden where hammocks hang between the trees, you can play pétanque and children can do what children do. In winter the huge open fire in the bar is used to spit-roast suckling pigs and warm mulled wine. Whatever the season, Keystone’s Beckford Phoenix real ale is a permanent fixture in the bar, with other beers on tap and 12 wines available by the glass. An invigorating menu leads in with deep fried ox tongue fritters, charred tenderstem, salsa verde and confit leeks as an eye-catching starter and then advances to traditional pub grub like beer-battered Cornish fish and chips; or Wiltshire ham and Westcombe Cheddar ploughman’s.
Awards, accolades and Welcome Schemes
AA Pick of the Pubs
Features
- Children welcome
- Children's portions
- Free Wifi
- Parking available
- Garden
- Closed: false
Also in the area
About the area
Discover Wiltshire
A land shrouded in mystery, myth and legend, Wiltshire evokes images of ancient stone circles, white chalk horses carved into hillsides, crop circles and the forbidden, empty landscape of Salisbury Plain. To many M4 and A303 drivers heading out of London through the clutter of the Thames Valley, Wiltshire is where the landscape opens out and rural England begins.
Wiltshire’s charm lies in the beauty of its countryside. The expansive chalk landscapes of the Marlborough and Pewsey downs and Cranborne Chase inspire a sense of space and freedom, offering miles of uninterrupted views deep into Dorset, Somerset and the Cotswolds. Wiltshire’s thriving market towns and picturesque villages provide worthwhile visits and welcome diversions. Stroll through quaint timbered and thatched villages in the southern Woodford and Avon valleys and explore the historic streets of the stone villages of Lacock, Castle Combe and Sherston. Walk around Salisbury and discover architectural styles from the 13th century to the present and take time to visit the city’s elegant cathedral and fascinating museums. And if all of that isn’t enough, the county is also richly endowed with manor houses, mansions and beautiful gardens.
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