Compasses

Pub Details

Address
Lower Chicksgrove
Chicksgrove
Wiltshire
SP3 6NB
Telephone
(01722) 714318
Opening Times
Weekdays
12 - 3, 6 - 11
Sundays
12 - 3, 7 - 10.30
Closed
Mon Jan - Easter

Location

Good Pub Guide Recommended

An excellent all-rounder with enjoyable food, a genuine welcome, four real ales and seats in the quiet garden; comfortable bedrooms After enjoying one of the nearby walks, this ancient thatched house is just the place to head for – although as it's very popular with both locals and visitors it might be best to book a table in advance. The unchanging bar has plenty of real character: old bottles and jugs hanging from beams above the roughly timbered counter, farm tools and traps on the partly stripped-stone walls, and high-backed wooden settles forming snug booths around tables on the mainly flagstoned floor. Helpful and friendly young staff serve Butcombe Blonde, Keystone Bedrock, Plain Ales Inntrigue and a guest beer on handpump, eight wines by the glass and several malt whiskies. The quiet garden, terraces and flagstoned farm courtyard are very pleasant places to sit, and our readers have told us that this is a lovely place to stay overnight – smashing breakfasts, too.

Good Pub Guide Food

Listed on blackboards and using as much local produce as possible, the splendid bar food includes sandwiches, ham hock terrine with home-made chutney, leek, mushroom and goats cheese pancakes, venison sausages with onion mash, lamb shank with bubble and squeak, and monkfish wrapped in parma ham with a mussel and lemon risotto.

Good Pub Information

Dogs allowed in: Dogs Anywhere

Rating

  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
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Rating: 3/5 (315 votes cast)

Reader Comments

Anne de G

Monday 06 February 2012 7:19:41 pm

I have to say this is a rare occasion where I disagree with the Good Pub Guide. Went for lunch at the Compasses and had a very poor experience simply because it was so COLD! The main bar is amazing with its beams, flagstones, and real fire - but even the fire couldn't keep it warm. We migrated to the back room and sat next to the heater but still had to keep our coats on for the whole meal. Beer was good, as was food, but mine was a little too cool on the plate. The back room is disappointingly grubby and unloved. Staff were great, though - friendly and very helpful. Had a similar impression on a previous visit.

rossbalaam

Tuesday 22 September 2009 6:47:18 pm

Last night my wife and I stayed at the Compasses. It was SUPERB! The beer, food, bedroom and staff were excellent. We both agreed that the food was the best we have ever tasted. The pub is set in a lovely hamlet
with wonderful views of the Wiltshire countryside. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and hope to go back in ther Spring. This pub is certianly worthy of being in the main section of the Good Pub Guide for Wiltshire and |I would not be suprised to see it as the Dining Pub in future publications.

Regards, Ross Balaam.

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