The Bell Inn
“British and Turkish cooking in a traditional village local”
CASTLE HEDINGHAM, ESSEX
Our View
A 15th-century former coaching inn situated in the charming medieval village of Castle Hedingham, The Bell has been run by the Ferguson family for over 50 years. From the late 1700s the pub was a popular stop for coaches en route between Bury St Edmunds and London and it remains a traditional pub serving good quality real ales and honest food using local ingredients including herbs and vegetables from the pub’s own allotment at the back. Exposed stone walls, heavy beams and real log fires create a welcoming atmosphere in which to enjoy a Mighty Oak Maldon Gold, Adnams Southwold Bitter or one of the guest ales. The Turkish chef puts his stamp on the menu, with Mediterranean fish nights on Mondays, and Turkish stone-baked pizzas on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. In the summer, the wood-fired oven and barbecue are fired up for guests to enjoy Middle Eastern dishes and fish specials alfresco in the walled patio and hop garden. Half-size portions of many dishes are available for younger visitors. The annual July beer festival that showcases up to 40 ales proves popular, as is live music every Friday night and jazz on the last Sunday of the month.
Awards, accolades and Welcome Schemes
AA Pick of the Pubs
Features
- Children welcome
- Children's portions
- Free Wifi
- Parking available
- Coach parties accepted
- Garden
- Closed: false
- Wide selection of Ales
- Wide selection of ciders
Also in the area
About the area
Discover Essex
Essex is full of pleasant surprises. It has the largest coastline of any county in England, with its fair share of castles, royal connections and scenic valleys. Take Colchester, for example, which was built by the Romans and is Britain’s oldest recorded town. Its castle contains the country’s largest Norman keep and yet, a stone’s throw from here, East Anglia’s newest arts centre promises to put Colchester firmly on the map as Essex’s capital of culture.
Tidal estuaries are plentiful and their mudflats offer migrating birds a winter feeding place. Essex was known as the land of the East Saxons and for centuries people from all over Europe settled here, each wave leaving its own distinctive cultural and social mark on the landscape. Walking a little off the beaten track will lead you to the rural retreats of deepest Essex, while all over the county there are ancient monuments to explore:
- the great Waltham Abbey
- Greensted, thought to be the oldest wooden church in the world
- the delightful village of Pleshey has one of the finest examples of a former motte-and-bailey castle
- Hedingham Castle, magnificently preserved and dating from the 11th century.
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