Peyton Arms, Stoke Lyne

A gloriously simple country local within a pair of early-nineteenth-century stone-built properties and which once incorporated the village shop. Its heart is now a single unspoilt bar in the centre. This has, however, seen modest changes. At some time after it was sold by the Peyton estate to Hook Norton in 1954, a counter was installed for the first time (the landlord says in 1962): it has tasteful vertical panelling. Also there used to be a tiny snug partitioned off to the right of the entrance. Across the corridor is the former village shop which for a time was a public room with pool table but is now used for storage. At the front of the building is another former bar room (but once domestic accommodation) in use till about 2008 and now also used for storage. Between this and the sole present-day bar is a corridor-like ground-floor cellar where beer is dispensed direct from the casks.