BISLEY'S PUBS
In the 1500s and 1600s, Bisley was a much busier place - at the height of the medieval wool trade, which then accounted for half of England's wealth, it was an important link in the chain between Gloucester and the sea to the west, and Cirencester, and on south to London.
Merchants and drovers passed through daily, and there were at least thirteen pubs and inns in the village in which they could quench their thirst.
By 1870, with wool supplanted by more practical cloths, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales was describing Bisley as ‘a decayed small town', and most of the pubs were closing.
Today we are left with only two - The Stirrup Cup and The Bear Inn. (Four of those which closed can be seen on this website.)
The Stirrup Cup (currently closed, see below) was originally known as The New Inn, and has changed outwardly very little since the 1800s, as the photograph above shows.
The Bear Inn is a sixteenth-century building which was originally the village assembly room and courthouse; it was originally recorded as a pub in 1631 and has been in service ever since.
It has a priest hole above the main fireplace, and various landlords and landladies have claimed that it is haunted; on two occasions the webmaster and his wife have seen odd things in there (odd, that is, even by Bisley's standards).
One night a book flew off the bookcase above the log-burner in the middle bar and landed some feet away. (It was The History of Murder.)
On another occasion, a handled glass sitting on a hook above the bar lifted off the hook and smashed on the floor.
It's hard to explain these events without recourse to paranormal explanations, or at least the very unusual, but on the other hand, the webmaster and his wife had been drinking.
Merchants and drovers passed through daily, and there were at least thirteen pubs and inns in the village in which they could quench their thirst.
By 1870, with wool supplanted by more practical cloths, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales was describing Bisley as ‘a decayed small town', and most of the pubs were closing.
Today we are left with only two - The Stirrup Cup and The Bear Inn. (Four of those which closed can be seen on this website.)
The Stirrup Cup (currently closed, see below) was originally known as The New Inn, and has changed outwardly very little since the 1800s, as the photograph above shows.
The Bear Inn is a sixteenth-century building which was originally the village assembly room and courthouse; it was originally recorded as a pub in 1631 and has been in service ever since.
It has a priest hole above the main fireplace, and various landlords and landladies have claimed that it is haunted; on two occasions the webmaster and his wife have seen odd things in there (odd, that is, even by Bisley's standards).
One night a book flew off the bookcase above the log-burner in the middle bar and landed some feet away. (It was The History of Murder.)
On another occasion, a handled glass sitting on a hook above the bar lifted off the hook and smashed on the floor.
It's hard to explain these events without recourse to paranormal explanations, or at least the very unusual, but on the other hand, the webmaster and his wife had been drinking.
The Stirrup Cup
The Stirrup Cup is currently closed, after the last landlord was eventually forced to accept that it was all-but impossible to make a decent living, given the exorbitant and quite unrealistic rents charged by the owners, Stonegate. (Punch, owner of The Bear, is no different; along with various governments, the ‘PubCos' seem intent on destroying this great English institution.)
The pub - which has been serving Bisley since at least 1774 - is currently being advertised to a new tenant.
The ‘guide rent' alone is £33,000 per annum. (There is a reduced rent for year one.)
Add to that staff costs, including a small salary for him/herself, utilities, insurances, repair funds, contributions to fixtures and fittings, and other general expenses, and British Beer & Pub Association data suggests any new tenant will have to find around £200,000 pa just to open the doors and sell people the beer which Stonegate’s tie requires you to purchase at far above the market rate. (You can buy out of the tie for a mere additional £40,750 pa.)
You will also need to pay a deposit of £8,250, and pay Stonegate a contract fee of £795 for the pleasure of agreeing to all of this.
As at the end of December 2025, they are forecasting turnover per year at £513,388.
When I last looked, in the summer, they were suggesting turnover of £433,702; it's unclear what has happened to add £79,686 in projected annual turnover in the last three months, but they must have their reasons. Inflation is presumably one factor, but that's hardly a positive.
Either way, I would be highly surprised if the pub did anything like £9,872 per week in business under the previous regime; it was often empty. Obviously, the only way to be sure is to look at the books, which I'm sure any prospective tenant would do.
Even if it could take that kind of money, the above BBPA figures suggest a gross profit (sales minus cost of food and drink) of around 60% and a net profit (after all expenses, apart from rent) of around 15%.
That 15% is the ‘divisible balance’, out of which rent must be paid.
If that is correct (and I will happily amend this if anyone from Stonegate can supply more accurate figures), it means you make £1,480 per week.
You then hand £635 of that to TDR Capital LLP, which owns Stonegate, and whose principals have probably never even heard of Bisley.
Assuming their turnover projections turn out to be correct (and, again, that my figures are correct), the remaining £845 is all yours - until you pay the required tax and national insurance etc.
That does not seem a very good reward for what is at least a sixty-hour working week, if done properly. It equates to £14.09 per hour - and, don't forget, you will have to pay someone to stand in for you whenever you take a holiday.
Many local people still think the pub could make good money if it were owned outright and had no tie, and – most importantly – was run properly.
It is a large building, much of which was unused in the latter days of the last landlord's time.
But it will not be easy.
In possibly related news from earelier in 2025, Stonegate is in financial difficulty and is considering selling 1,000 pubs.
A villager did write to the estates team when the previous landlord left to ask whether it might be sold (a number of people were considering the possibility of banding together and buying it as a community pub, a la The Black Horse at Cranham, and others) and they replied that it was ‘not earmarked for disposal’.
However, that was at a time when (I think) they thought they had an experienced replacement landlord lined up, and that obviously fell through.
I fear it is entirely likely that the next landlord will be either certifiable or a recently-retired dreamer who will plough his* pension or redundancy payment into taking the pub on, and after a year be forced to leave, broke and despairing, and wondering why on earth he listened to that little voice in his head which had always said it would be nice to run a pub.
*It is most likely to be a man; women seem more sensible in such matters. I should say that I do think there is scope to make a success of The Stirrup Cup. However, I think it is extremely hard under the current dispensation, and the village will not benefit from a hokey-cokey style of management in the coming years.
The pub - which has been serving Bisley since at least 1774 - is currently being advertised to a new tenant.
The ‘guide rent' alone is £33,000 per annum. (There is a reduced rent for year one.)
Add to that staff costs, including a small salary for him/herself, utilities, insurances, repair funds, contributions to fixtures and fittings, and other general expenses, and British Beer & Pub Association data suggests any new tenant will have to find around £200,000 pa just to open the doors and sell people the beer which Stonegate’s tie requires you to purchase at far above the market rate. (You can buy out of the tie for a mere additional £40,750 pa.)
You will also need to pay a deposit of £8,250, and pay Stonegate a contract fee of £795 for the pleasure of agreeing to all of this.
As at the end of December 2025, they are forecasting turnover per year at £513,388.
When I last looked, in the summer, they were suggesting turnover of £433,702; it's unclear what has happened to add £79,686 in projected annual turnover in the last three months, but they must have their reasons. Inflation is presumably one factor, but that's hardly a positive.
Either way, I would be highly surprised if the pub did anything like £9,872 per week in business under the previous regime; it was often empty. Obviously, the only way to be sure is to look at the books, which I'm sure any prospective tenant would do.
Even if it could take that kind of money, the above BBPA figures suggest a gross profit (sales minus cost of food and drink) of around 60% and a net profit (after all expenses, apart from rent) of around 15%.
That 15% is the ‘divisible balance’, out of which rent must be paid.
If that is correct (and I will happily amend this if anyone from Stonegate can supply more accurate figures), it means you make £1,480 per week.
You then hand £635 of that to TDR Capital LLP, which owns Stonegate, and whose principals have probably never even heard of Bisley.
Assuming their turnover projections turn out to be correct (and, again, that my figures are correct), the remaining £845 is all yours - until you pay the required tax and national insurance etc.
That does not seem a very good reward for what is at least a sixty-hour working week, if done properly. It equates to £14.09 per hour - and, don't forget, you will have to pay someone to stand in for you whenever you take a holiday.
Many local people still think the pub could make good money if it were owned outright and had no tie, and – most importantly – was run properly.
It is a large building, much of which was unused in the latter days of the last landlord's time.
But it will not be easy.
In possibly related news from earelier in 2025, Stonegate is in financial difficulty and is considering selling 1,000 pubs.
A villager did write to the estates team when the previous landlord left to ask whether it might be sold (a number of people were considering the possibility of banding together and buying it as a community pub, a la The Black Horse at Cranham, and others) and they replied that it was ‘not earmarked for disposal’.
However, that was at a time when (I think) they thought they had an experienced replacement landlord lined up, and that obviously fell through.
I fear it is entirely likely that the next landlord will be either certifiable or a recently-retired dreamer who will plough his* pension or redundancy payment into taking the pub on, and after a year be forced to leave, broke and despairing, and wondering why on earth he listened to that little voice in his head which had always said it would be nice to run a pub.
*It is most likely to be a man; women seem more sensible in such matters. I should say that I do think there is scope to make a success of The Stirrup Cup. However, I think it is extremely hard under the current dispensation, and the village will not benefit from a hokey-cokey style of management in the coming years.
The Bear Inn
The Bear Inn looks the quintessential English Cotswold stone village pub.
A Grade II* listed building, it was originally Bisley's assembly rooms and courthouse, and was first listed as a pub in 1631.
It is supposedly haunted by three ghosts - that of a priest (there is a ‘priest hole' in the main chimney) who knocks about in the middle bar, a young and disconsolate child who is heard crying and walking up and down the stairs, and a ‘Grey Lady' who inhabits the upper floors.
If you should find yourself in there, ask the staff: they will be quite happy to discuss all of this and many far weirder goings-on, and are quite blasé about it all.
If you google you may find excellent Tripadvisor reviews for the pub under previous tenants; unfortunately, the last pair left the village under very shady circumstances, and thus you may also come across unflattering stories.
Food available along with a good range of beers (currently Timothy Taylor's Landlord and Butcombe Original plus rotating additions), lagers, and wines.
Landlady: Alice Everdine Willow
Address: George Street Bisley GL6 7BD
Telephone: 07808 656727
email: [email protected]
The Bear's instagram page
The Bear's facebook page
A Grade II* listed building, it was originally Bisley's assembly rooms and courthouse, and was first listed as a pub in 1631.
It is supposedly haunted by three ghosts - that of a priest (there is a ‘priest hole' in the main chimney) who knocks about in the middle bar, a young and disconsolate child who is heard crying and walking up and down the stairs, and a ‘Grey Lady' who inhabits the upper floors.
If you should find yourself in there, ask the staff: they will be quite happy to discuss all of this and many far weirder goings-on, and are quite blasé about it all.
If you google you may find excellent Tripadvisor reviews for the pub under previous tenants; unfortunately, the last pair left the village under very shady circumstances, and thus you may also come across unflattering stories.
Food available along with a good range of beers (currently Timothy Taylor's Landlord and Butcombe Original plus rotating additions), lagers, and wines.
Landlady: Alice Everdine Willow
Address: George Street Bisley GL6 7BD
Telephone: 07808 656727
email: [email protected]
The Bear's instagram page
The Bear's facebook page
Pubs near Bisley
There are lots of pretty, and good, pubs near Bisley, and some truly great ones (The Woolpack in particular).
The Lamb at Eastcombe, The Butchers Arms at Oakridge, and The Woolpack at Slad are all eminently walkable in half an hour or so; The Butchers Arms at Sheepscombe, The Bell and The Daneway at Sapperton, The King's Head at France Lynch, and The Black Horse at Cranham are all around ten minutes' drive away.
You could cycle to any of them in 45 minutes, and I have, though we live in a hilly part of the world - Bisley is just about the highest point in The Cotswolds - and you'll certainly earn your shandy when you get there.
(The Daneway is pretty much all downhill, admittedly, but you have to get back up the hill, and it's very steep for a mile or two.)
Although this website is run by volunteers, the cost of hosting the site is partly borne by the parish council, which covers not just Bisley but also Eastcombe and Oakridge. So, while our focus is naturally mostly on Bisley, it's only fair that we include a little extra detail on the pubs in those two villages:
The Lamb at Eastcombe, The Butchers Arms at Oakridge, and The Woolpack at Slad are all eminently walkable in half an hour or so; The Butchers Arms at Sheepscombe, The Bell and The Daneway at Sapperton, The King's Head at France Lynch, and The Black Horse at Cranham are all around ten minutes' drive away.
You could cycle to any of them in 45 minutes, and I have, though we live in a hilly part of the world - Bisley is just about the highest point in The Cotswolds - and you'll certainly earn your shandy when you get there.
(The Daneway is pretty much all downhill, admittedly, but you have to get back up the hill, and it's very steep for a mile or two.)
Although this website is run by volunteers, the cost of hosting the site is partly borne by the parish council, which covers not just Bisley but also Eastcombe and Oakridge. So, while our focus is naturally mostly on Bisley, it's only fair that we include a little extra detail on the pubs in those two villages:
The Butcher's Arms, Oakridge
The Butchers Arms is a nice little pub with a lovely beer garden and a function room.
It serves home-cooked food, real ales and a good selection of wines, and also has a self-contained one-bed cottage which can be rented.
It's a nice, straightforward walk by road; alternatively, you can cut across the diagonal path in the field between Hayhedge Lane and Limekiln Lane, and follow your nose for a mile or two.
Address: Oakridge Lynch, nr Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL6 7NZ
Telephone: 01452 225603
Email: [email protected]
The Butchers Arms website
The Butchers Arms on TripAdvisor
The Butchers Arms on FaceBook
It serves home-cooked food, real ales and a good selection of wines, and also has a self-contained one-bed cottage which can be rented.
It's a nice, straightforward walk by road; alternatively, you can cut across the diagonal path in the field between Hayhedge Lane and Limekiln Lane, and follow your nose for a mile or two.
Address: Oakridge Lynch, nr Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL6 7NZ
Telephone: 01452 225603
Email: [email protected]
The Butchers Arms website
The Butchers Arms on TripAdvisor
The Butchers Arms on FaceBook
The Lamb Inn, Eastcombe
You can walk to The Lamb by going down to the end of Far Wells Road, up to Nash End through the field at the bottom, and then along the ridge, or by dropping down into the Toadsmoor Valley and heading back up the other side (which is the more strenuous option).
Once there you will enjoy the outside decking area with views over the valley, and their home-cooked food and good selection of drinks.
Use the ‘What's On' page on the pub's website for special events.
The Lamb website
The Lamb on TripAdvisor
The Lamb on FaceBook
Once there you will enjoy the outside decking area with views over the valley, and their home-cooked food and good selection of drinks.
Use the ‘What's On' page on the pub's website for special events.
The Lamb website
The Lamb on TripAdvisor
The Lamb on FaceBook
