Berwick St James Parish
The Boot Inn
“Welcome to the Boot Inn. We took over this 400 year old country pub in April 2008 and brought with us nearly 20 years experience of running pubs together. We are both fully trained chefs and Giles love of food has taken him to work at two of London's most respected restaurants - Simply Nico and the Greenhouse, in Mayfair. We believe that we have enhanced the dining ethos at the Boot whilst still maintaining its ever present troop of locals that create its traditional pub feel. We lead a small team of talented chefs, bar and waiting staff serving food and drink sourced from the best the region has to offer and, in doing so, have had an entry in the Good Food Guide continually since 2009. The menu is seasonal, changes daily and where possible is all prepared in house - from the bread to them condiments and the ice-creams. With as many of our ingredients as possible being sourced as locally, without compromising quality, we know the provenance of nearly everything on the menu. Our 8 tables fill up very quickly so booking is recommended and parties over 6 in number are advised to book well in advance to avoid disappointment. Our beers come primarily from Wadworth & Co. in Devizes, one of the country's finest family owned regional breweries.”A Message from Giles & Cathy Dickinson
A Short History of the Boot Inn
The Boot Inn is a Grade II listed building built in the mid 1600’s of flint and limestone bands with a tiled roof which was formerly thatched.
Many inns came into existence after the 1830 Beerhouse act, an act of parliament brought in to help stimulate the economy.
This enabled individuals to sell beer without a formal licence and it would have been under this arrangement the William Kyte, a master shoe maker, opened the Boot.
The first surviving record of the inns name is in the Kelly’s directory for the area in 1848.
On the 24th of August 1897 the inn was granted an alehouse licence which allowed it to sell cider and spirits as well as beer.
At this time it was licensed for six days a week, closing at 9.00pm.
During this period the Boot Inn was part of an estate which comprised of the houses, cottages, principal farms and inns in the parishes of Winterbourne Stoke, Berwick St James, Stapleford and Steeple Langford. The estate changed ownership several times between 1896 and 1920.
In 1921 the estate was offered for sale at auction in various lots and Wadworth brewery bought lot 3, The Boot Inn.
It has remained a Wadworth tenancy from that time and was granted a seven day licence in April 1951.
Previous Licensees:-
1848 – 1869 William Kyte & family 1961 – 1971 Percy Mc Gill
1869 – 1921 Robert Keel & family 1971 – 1985 Donald Leslie Rowell
1921 – 1930 Frank Shergold 1985 – 1997 Geoffery Neil Blake
1930 – 1934 Edward Walter Clark 1997 – 2008 Kathie Duval
1934 – 1957 James Pember & family 2008 – today Giles & Cathy Dickinson
1957 – 1961 Trevor Chirgwin
