Packhorse, Mapledurham

Attractive and comfortable Grade II-listed roadside pub and restaurant.

Originally a farm on the Mapledurham House estate dating from the 1600s, and a former Gales pub, this Grade II-listed Brunning & Price owned establishment is a cosy pub and comfortable restaurant. The original low-beamed bar has seating for drinkers, although all tables can get booked for diners during busy periods. It serves four cask ales, with at least one local brewery usually featured, quite often Loddon.

The larger restaurant area is furnished with bookcases and numerous prints and has a wide-ranging good-value menu. A large secluded garden at the rear has a shaded seating area overlooking fields and also has a kid's play area. This was revamped in 2025 and now has a barbeque area and outside bar that is open in the summer months on Friday evenings and all day Saturday and Sunday. The pub holds numerous food and drink related events through the year, such as gin, rum and wine-tasting evenings and meet the brewer evenings. The pub has a huge gin selection of around 140 types, purportedly the largest of any bar in Oxfordshire.

Monthly dog-walks on a Saturday morning are also very popular with locals.

The Instagram account for this pub is viewable by left clicking on https://www.instagram.com/thepackhorse.

The Historic England website entry for this pub is viewable by left clicking on https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1368947.