Pubs & Clubs
Beers & Breweries
Pubs & Clubs
Beers & Breweries
Join Us
You have visited this venue
View all visits
Heritage Pub

Bell, Castle Hedingham

You want to visit - You have this in

Fifteenth century Gray's owned coaching inn with small rooms for drinking and dining alongside two main bars, with a nice outside area for both dining and drinking. Beer is cask dispensed and summer and winter beer festivals are held. Local musicians play on most Friday evenings and Sunday is quiz night. Locally sourced food includes Turkish specials prepared in a wood fired stone oven and Wednesday evening is a BBQ fish menu in summer months.

Historic Interest

Timber framed 16th-century hall house.

Information for this venue is provided by the North West Essex Branch of CAMRA
Previous Names
Local Authority
Braintree District
Last updated
02/05/2024
Last surveyed
28/07/2022
Pub ID
ENW/11281
Asset of Community Value

Two star - A pub interior of very special national historic interest

Listed status: II

This former coaching inn occupies a timber-framed 16th-century building and has an unusual layout of four rooms linked by a corridor running from the front door. Much of what you now see dates from changes in 1967, before which the main entrance was in the middle of the frontage, accessing an off-licence and rooms each side (the current public bar and saloon). Both these rooms are simply appointed with slatted-wood counters and basic bar-back shelving. The public bar has some old panelling and ale is served from barrels stillaged behind the counter. The room on the left of the corridor only entered pub use in 1980; a glass-fronted section of wall displays the underlying wattle and daub construction. There is also a small back room of fairly recent vintage. On the first floor, but accessed from outside, is a magnificent assembly room built around 1790 and refurbished in 1980; the superb moulding on the barrel ceiling is a plaster replica of the papier-mache original.

General information about historic pub interiors

Timber-framed 16th-century hall-house which includes the shop to the left, now leased out. Four rooms are now linked by a corridor running from the front door. First, on the right, is the public bar which, until 1967, was accessed by a door in the middle of the frontage which also gave on to a tiny off-sales and the saloon - you can still see the old door behind the servery. The simple, slatted-wood counter and bar back shelving are from 1967. Ale is served from casks on two wooden stillages behind the bar. Note the old crib board screwed to the top of a scrubbed table. Other features are the portion of old dado panelling, an internal window to the corridor and a brick fireplace from which the plaster was removed fairly recently.

To the left of the corridor is the parlour, incorporated into the pub in 1980; a glass-fronted section of wall displays the underlying watlle & daub construction. The corridor turns 90 degrees; a small room at the back, also fairly new to pub use, has part-timbered walls and a hatch to the bar opposite. Finally we come to the saloon where the fittings are also from the 1967 changes, as is the extension into the former kitchen pantry (hence the old meat hooks in the beams)

Accessed from stairs in the yard at the back is the superb barrel-ceilinged 'Long Room', believed to date from around 1790. This room, part of which sits above the saloon, has served many purposes from ballroom to courtroom to auction house and more recently a folk club and theatre. As assembly room for the local Conservatives, it also operated as a political and social arena and was the scene of a speech by Benjamin Disraeli, hence it being known as the Disraeli Room. It was refurbished in in 1980 and the superb moulding on the ceiling is a plaster replica from that time of the papier-mache original. Assembly rooms like this were once a common feature of coaching inns; most had a partition or movable doors enabling the space to be divided and the Bell's retains such a feature - and hence the fireplaces either end of the room.

To the left is a plain room with a few timbers and a glass-fronted section displaying the underlying wattle and daub construction. The corridor then turns 90 degrees and there’s a small, room at the rear with part timbered walls and a hatch to the bar opposite it. The smoke room on the right has a counter and bar back shelves at least 40 years old; the room was extended to the rear in c.1968. At the rear is a 17th- or 18th-century building with an upstairs room which was used as a court house. Now called the Disraeli Room it was refurbished in 1980 and has a plaster ceiling which is an exact replica of the original old Papier-Mache ceiling.

General information about historic pub interiors
Seen some incorrect or missing details? let us know.
Opening
Food
Monday
Noon - 2:30pm & 6:00pm - 10:00pm
12:30pm - 2:00pm
Tuesday
Closed
No Service
Wednesday
Noon - 2:30pm & 6:00pm - 10:00pm
12:30pm - 2:00pm & 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Thursday
Noon - 2:30pm & 6:00pm - 10:00pm
12:30pm - 2:00pm & 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Friday
Noon - 11:00pm
12:30pm - 2:00pm & 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Saturday
Noon - 10:00pm
12:30pm - 2:00pm & 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Sunday
Noon - 8:00pm
12:30pm - 2:30pm & 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Spotted an error with the opening times? Let us know

Current beers

This Pub serves 3 changing beers and 0 regular beers.

Bell, Castle Hedingham

Add it to our list and share what's currently being served!.
Are you a CAMRA member? Contribute by submitting a beer score
Spot a Beer
Submit beer score

Source: Local

Do you know what Regular beers or changing beers this Pub serves? Let us know
Your scores
Join CAMRA to access beer scoring and view scores for other pubs.
Become a member.
Retrieving scores
You have no beer scores submitted.

Facilities
Lunchtime Meals Lunchtime Meals
Evening Meals Evening Meals
Live Music Live Music
Garden Garden
Family Friendly Family Friendly
Parking Parking
Dog Friendly Dog Friendly
Camping Camping
Function Room Function Room
Games Games
Lined Glasses Lined Glasses
Real Fire Real Fire
Restaurant Restaurant
Separate Bar Separate Bar
Smoking Smoking
Wi Fi Wi Fi
Features
Real Ale Real Ale
Real Heritage Pub Real Heritage Pub
LocAle LocAle
Beer Festival Beer Festival
July
Quiet Quiet
Transport
Close to bus routes
89
Directions
on main road through village.
Are these pub facilities or features correct? Let us know

Nearby

(Pub, External, Key). Published on 04-08-2015
You have visited this venue
View all visits
Wheatsheaf
Pub
Real Ale Available
2 Queen Street, Castle Hedingham, CO9 3EX
You want to visit - You have this in one of your trips
0.0 miles
(External). Published on 06-07-2014
You have visited this venue
View all visits
Castle Hedingham Social Club
Club
Real Ale Available
15-19 Church Lane, Castle Hedingham, CO9 3DA
You want to visit - You have this in one of your trips
0.1 miles
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 28-07-2015
You have visited this venue
View all visits
Memories
Pub
1 Crouch Green, Castle Hedingham, CO9 3DX
You want to visit - You have this in one of your trips
0.6 miles
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 04-08-2015
You have visited this venue
View all visits
Sible Hedingham Village Social Club
Club
Real Ale Available
Crosspath, Station Road, Sible Hedingham, CO9 3QB
You want to visit - You have this in one of your trips
0.6 miles
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 29-07-2015
You have visited this venue
View all visits
White Lion
Pub
Real Ale Available
6 Church Street, Sible Hedingham, CO9 3NS
You want to visit - You have this in one of your trips
1.1 miles
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 08-02-2016
You have visited this venue
View all visits
White Hart
Pub
Real Ale Available
Poole Street, Great Yeldham, CO9 4HJ
You want to visit - You have this in one of your trips
2.0 miles
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 28-07-2015
You have visited this venue
View all visits
Pheasant
Pub
Real Ale Available
Audley End, Gestingthorpe, CO9 3AU
You want to visit - You have this in one of your trips
2.1 miles
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 08-02-2016
You have visited this venue
View all visits
Waggon & Horses
Pub
Real Ale Available | Real Cider Available
High Street, Great Yeldham, CO9 4EX
You want to visit - You have this in one of your trips
2.2 miles
(Pub, External, Key). Published on 29-07-2015
You have visited this venue
View all visits
Three Bottles
Pub
Real Ale Available
6 Leather Lane, Great Yeldham, CO9 4HY
You want to visit - You have this in one of your trips
2.3 miles
(Pub, External, Garden, Key). Published on 04-08-2015
You have visited this venue
View all visits
Victory Inn
Pub
Real Ale Available
The Green, Wickham St.Paul, CO9 2PT
You want to visit - You have this in one of your trips
2.9 miles

Need accommodation?

 

 

Home
© Campaign for Real Ale 2023 - 2024 (ce-9)