The Castle Inn is a

public house 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 wa ...

West Lulworth West Lulworth is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, situated on the English Channel beside Lulworth Cove. In the 2011 census the civil parish—which includes most of Lulworth Camp army base—had 291 households and a po ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, England, which dates from the 16th century. It was originally called The Green Man, and later The Jolly Sailor. , the pub is a popular traditional pub and hotel. The Castle Inn has a focus upon traditional

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

real cider Cider in the United Kingdom is widely available at pubs, off licences, and shops. It has been made in regions of the country where cider apples were grown since Roman times; in those regions it is intertwined with local culture. The UK is the la ...

s and fresh food.

History

The pub has changed names many times during its history. It has been known as both the Green Man and the Traveller's Rest at various points. It is currently named after the early 17th century hunting lodge Lulworth Castle, situated in

East Lulworth East Lulworth is a village and civil parish nine miles east of Dorchester, near Lulworth Cove, in the county of Dorset, South West England. It consists of 17th-century thatched cottages. The village is now dominated by the barracks of the Royal ...

. An 1846 document held by the Dorset History Centre amongst the papers of the brewers White and Bennett of Wareham notes that it was then called ''The Jolly Sailor'' and formerly called The Lugger. In ''Dorset Pubs & Breweries'', Tim Edgell states that the pub dates back 400 years, and that it was a homebrew pub in the 19th century. Its name was changed from ''The Jolly Sailor'' in about 1860 - it was still The Jolly Sailor in 1859, but was Castle Inn in the 1861 and subsequent censuses. It is a Grade II listed building, described by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

as being probably 18th century.

Cider

The

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...

is known for its cider but many pubs in the area are

tied house In the United Kingdom, a tied house is a public house required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery or pub company. That is in contrast to a free house, which is able to choose the beers it stocks freely. A report for th ...

s and so only stock a limited range. The Castle Inn is a free house and stocks many different varieties including "

". Cider in the UK is legally allowed to contain as little as 35% apple juice (fresh or from concentrate).

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 ...

says that "real cider" must be at least 90% fresh apple juice. Real cider is an

artisanal An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

product made in the traditional way from pure fresh

apple juice Apple juice is a fruit juice made by the maceration and pressing of an apple. The resulting expelled juice may be further treated by enzymatic and centrifugal clarification to remove the starch and pectin, which holds fine particulate in suspe ...

, and local examples offered include ''Dorset Tit'' from the

Marshwood Vale The Marshwood Vale (or Vale of Marshwood) is a low-lying, bowl-shaped valley of Lower Lias clay, in the western tip of the county of Dorset in south-west England. It lies to the north of the A35 trunk road between the towns of Bridport and Lyme R ...

Reviews and awards

In ''Slow Dorset'', Alexandra Richards comments that the inn is known for its food and range of local beers, as well as being very dog-friendly. The inn was recommended by Lesley Gillilan, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 2013, as worthy of investigation for its cider alone. In 2014, the inn was recognised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) as their ''Cider Pub of the Year''. CAMRA said, "Their commitment to real cider and perry is second to none and the quality of drinks they have in the pub at any one time is truly staggering. As well as that the pub is a beautiful place to enjoy a drink, with all the country charm you could hope for."

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle Inn, The Grade II listed pubs in Dorset

History

Cider

Reviews and awards

See also

External links

References