Druids Arms

Called in here two days ago but just missed lunch — they stop taking orders at 2.00pm. If we’d been earlier there was plenty of choice including a vegetarian option (spring rolls £3.95) There was also moussaka and lots of meat dishes on offer.
Never mind, the local Butcombe Ale was good (brewed 4 miles down the road apparently) and there was also Guinness and Courage amongst others.
The pub is set in a country lane overlooking fields with a few tables and chairs outside at the front, a beer garden in a small field at the back, and plenty of seating inside. There’s a big fireplace which must be nice to sit around in the winter and an old carpet which has definitely seen better days.
The shabby toilets are up a few steps at one end of the room and could be awkward for some people to get into (there’s no disabled toilet).
There’s a car park to one side and the pub is easily within walking distance of the famous Stanton Drew Stone Circles. There are also three stones to be seen in the pub beer garden — two standing upright and one lying on the ground — known as ‘The Cove’.

I discovered this village pub when I was visiting Stanton Drew’s prehistoric stone circle, which lies just outside Bristol, and the pub is certainly conveniently located for a quick pint or a hearty lunch if you’re off exploring the stones.
It’s a sweet place that serves traditional pub grub, a good range of beer and even scrumpy — with an open fire for cosy winter pub nights, and a decent-​sized beer garden to enjoy on sunny afternoons or balmy evenings, overlooking the ancient stones.
On your way there look out for the tiny, cute, 15^th century thatched ‘Round House’, a former toll house positioned just at the turning for Stanton Drew (if you’re coming from the A37 or Chew Magna, at the northern entrance to the village before the bridge over the River Chew).

To be honest, the clientele are far from druid-​like in nature. Old men in wax jackets and dogs. Don’t let that put you off. The proximity to Stanton Drew Stone Circle means that a hippy vibe does emanate from the place — mainly in that it’s relaxed and they serve decent scrumpy from the barrel!
Around solstice time, pagans and freespirits are of course attracted to the site — it can get extremely busy, but a fun, festival atmosphere fills the place, people bring along their lutes and guitars and impromptu
sing-​a-​longs break out all over the place.
On a day-​to-​day bais there is one bar, a separate dining room (doing proper pub grub and a reasonable Sunday roast) a roaring fire, and a lovely beer garden overlooking the stone circle.