White Horse Hotel

Three–storey of red brick rebuilt 1898 as a hotel. Just after it opened it had its own brewery; the business William Henry Knight White Horse Brewery had four tiled houses when it was sold to Hunt Edmunds Brewery of Banbury in 1919 and closed – note the Hunt Edmunds plaque on the exterior. It appears to have had a refurbishment in the interwar period but is barely changed since then. Not listed. 

Main hotel entrance leads into a hall with terrazzo floor and open staircase to five bedrooms and a function room on the first floor. 

On the front right is the bar in use having a ‘Lounge’ wording with a terrazzo floor covered by carpet. It has a panelled bar counter which is quite plain so assumed to be from the interwar period. The five-bay bar back with ornate pillars holding up the shelves also looks to be from the interwar period; and has no loss of shelves for fridges. There is a brick fireplace that looks interwar and some old seating in the front window area otherwise there is pew seating. A vestibule on the right leads to a short passage with the off-sales hatch having a lower rising section still there and the public bar entrance from the street (no longer in use). 

At the other end of the passage is a door leading to another bar which looks like the original public bar with another plain bar counter and a bar back of two sections being shelves on a mirrored back so much plainer than the left-hand bar one but both could date from the interwar period; no loss of lower shelves. This bar has an exposed terrazzo floor, decorative cornice, and another interwar brick fireplace with 1960s Gas Miser fire in front of it. This bar has old fixed seating re-upholstered and at the end of the servery is an attractive screen with eight leaded glazed panels depicting birds. 

On the left of the entrance passage is the two-part dining room on different levels with, in the first part, a decorative cornice and another interwar brick fireplace. On the first floor is a function room which the owner says was originally a billiard room. It has a decorative cornice all the way around and ornate ceiling roses; also, two marble and tiled fireplaces from the Victorian period. 

For the last 40 years the owner has been owned by Pio Palombo (aged 85) and only opens from 5pm Mon to Fri; Sat 12 to 2 and 5 to 11; Sun 12 to 10. It might have one cask beer? Phone number is 01386 554038 if you want to check the opening hours prior to a visit.