The Bell Inn is a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

at the village of

Aldworth Aldworth is a village and mainly farmland civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, near the boundary with Oxfordshire. Orthography and slight change of name Aldworth was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 by scribes whose orthograp ...

, in the English county of

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural Dist ...

. It won

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is ...

National Pub of the Year The National Pub of the Year is an annual competition held by CAMRA, the winner of which is announced in the February of the year following that in which the competition is run, that finds the best pub in the UK. Established in 1988, the compet ...

in 1990, and received the accolade again for 2019. It is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

and is the only pub in Berkshire with a Grade II listed interior. It is also on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. The pub is built of brick with a timber frame, and is said to have once been a medieval hall house or

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

before it became a pub. It was built in the 15th century or possibly earlier, with C17 and C19 alterations and a C20 addition. It has two rooms, a large panelled tap room with

inglenook fireplace An inglenook or chimney corner is a recess that adjoins a fireplace. The word comes from "ingle", an old Scots word for a domestic fire (derived from the Gaelic ''aingeal''), and "nook". The inglenook originated as a partially enclosed heart ...

and quarry-tiled floor, and a smaller 'L' shaped room. The bar itself is a servery with sliding glass partitions and hatches, and has no bar fittings at all save for

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...

handpumps, which were fitted in 1902. Besides its listing and awards, the pub is also notable for having been owned and run by the same family continuously since the 18th century. The pub is a free house and sells beers from a number of local breweries, as well as its famous filled rolls. It is popular with locals, as well as walkers on the nearby Ridgeway.

References

External links

*
Description of the pub interior
on CAMRA web site {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Aldworth, The Grade II listed pubs in Berkshire National Inventory Pubs Timber framed buildings in England West Berkshire District