🔥 Autumn menu now on | Sunday roast tables open 3 weeks ahead | 📞 01632 960213
EST. 1842 • ESSEX COUNTRYSIDE

Wood-Fired Cooking, Honest Cask Ales & a Proper Sunday Roast.

A village pub on the edge of Dedham Vale, cooking over an open oak fire. Fish from the Essex coast, beef from the Vale and veg from our own kitchen garden.

Explore Today's Menu ↓
Kitchen Status ● Serving Lunch & Dinner
Sunday Service Roasts 12:00 – 19:30
On Hand Pull 4 Cask Ales & Cider
The Copper Fox Dining Hall

The Open Oak Hearth

Meat, fish and seasonal veg cooked over oak, birch and applewood.

Sunday Sharing Lamb 4 of 12 shoulders left
Local Roots

Fields, Coasts & Forest Orchards

Most of what we cook comes from within 25 miles, and we know the people who grow, catch and make it.

The Philosophy

Cooking with Respect for Season & Hearth

We cook only over English hardwood: oak for steady heat, birch for flame and applewood for smoke. Nothing sits under a heat lamp.

Head Chef & Landlord
Oliver Thornton

Twelve years in London kitchens before coming home to Essex

Seafood

Mersea Island Oysters

Grown in the creeks around West Mersea and delivered live every afternoon.

📍 Mersea Creek • 14 miles away
Pasture-Fed Beef

Dedham Vale Native Herd

Angus and Hereford cattle naturally grass-grazed along the River Stour water meadows, hung for a minimum of 35 days.

📍 Dedham Vale • 3 miles away
Artisan Dairy

Colston Bassett & Baron Bigod

Baron Bigod, a raw-milk brie-style cheese from Fen Farm Dairy in Bungay, and Colston Bassett Stilton from Nottinghamshire.

📍 Fen Farm, Bungay • 40 miles away
Brewing Heritage

Oakham & Adnams Cellar Casks

Four hand pulls, changed weekly and kept at 11°C in our cellar, plus a short list of natural wines.

📍 Southwold & Local Micro-breweries
The Rooms

Three Places to Settle In

Candlelit dinner, a pint by the fire with the dog, or lunch in the garden.

Main Dining Hall
The Central Quarters

The Main Hearth Dining Hall

Double-height timber ceiling with a view straight into the open grill. Candlelit oak tables and linen napkins.

Up to 8 Guests per Table Full A La Carte Service
The Fireside Snug
Cosy & Informal

The Fireside Snug & Taproom

Inglenook log-burning fire, weathered leather wingback armchairs, bar snacks, and full cask ale line-up. Well-behaved dogs warmly welcomed.

Walk-ins & Reservations Bar Menu & Pints
Heated Walled Garden
Al Fresco & Heated

The Walled Orchard Terrace

Sheltered red-brick courtyard with radiant overhead heating, festoon lighting, apple trees, and wood-fired flatbread oven.

Heated & Sheltered Garden Cocktails
The Sunday Tradition

Whole Roasted Cuts for the Whole Table

Every Sunday we roast whole shoulders of salt-marsh lamb, 35-day aged sirloin and pork loin with crackling. It all comes with beef-dripping Yorkshires, cauliflower cheese and plenty of red wine gravy.

Guest Reviews

Words from the Tables

★★★★★

"Proper pub at the front, properly good food at the back. We came in for one pint and stayed for dinner."

Tom H. • Manningtree
★★★★★

"Had the ribeye. Best steak I've eaten in years, and the chips were ridiculous."

Priya S. • Colchester
★★★★★

"Took Dad here for his 70th. Loads of gravy, a table by the fire, and they didn't mind the dog. We'll be back."

Claire M. • Ipswich