Built in the 15th century, this charming Suffolk pub and restaurant with rooms prides itself on its estate-to-plate ethos, says Felix Petit
The Crown at Bildeston in the heart of Suffolk is a haven for the sportsman and as worthy of a dedicated weekend pilgrimage from afar as it is a post-work pint or Sunday roast for locals. Bildeston itself is unspoiled, and Crown guests are met on arrival by an inviting honey-rendered frontage on the sleepy high street. There are 13 rooms in which to stay if shooting on one of the nearby sporting estates or simply sampling East Anglia’s rural diversions. Choose between Woodland, Game and Orchard rooms; the latter feature super-king-size four-posters and smart, spacious en-suite bathrooms.
Good for
- Shooting parties
- Field-to-fork dining
- Local ales
The pub is part of the neighbouring Nedging Hall estate owned and operated by the Buckle family. Charlie Buckle, whose grandparents moved to the area in 1986, now runs the estate (which also owns and manages the nearby Mauldons Brewery, The Brewery Tap, The Lindsey Rose and is currently renovating The Angel in Lavenham). His wife, Harriet, was the creative force behind the refurbishment of The Crown’s interior in 2022.
Seating 12, the double-height Suffolk Room is ideal for shoot lunches
Exposed beams in the 500-year-old building (it has been a pub for almost all of that time) set the tone, and walls filled with framed displays of hunt buttons, sporting prints, brass horns and roe heads (mostly shot by Charlie) reaffirm that you have come to the right place. Over a pint of their own Mole Trap bitter in the main bar, Charlie Buckle explains that the Essex & Suffolk Hunt are encouraged to have their Meets at The Crown. On the walls of the smaller Paddock bar hangs memorabilia from Buckle’s point-to-pointing career, and the rest of the pub is laced with curios from hunting-boot lamps to bronzes of hounds and cavorting otters. Leather Chesterfields round one of the many fires add further to the sporting feel of the place but modernist technicolour renderings of the odd turbot or skate slice through the comforting atmosphere – a reminder that The Crown doesn’t take itself too seriously.
With three private dining rooms seating 12, 16 and 38 guests respectively, shoot lunches are well catered for (the Buckles have theirs here on Mondays during the season). The secluded double-height Suffolk Room is part exclusive dining salon and part Tudor banqueting hall, with coats of arms and medieval maps providing the ambience.
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Food at The Crown is top-notch, winner of last year’s Best Pub/Restaurant at the Eat Game Awards. If you were to cut talented head chef Greig Young in half like a stick of Brighton rock it would say ‘estate to plate’. All of the venison served in the pub (mostly muntjac, roe and fallow) is shot on Nedging by Charlie Buckle or one of his qualified stalkers and broken down in the newly finished state-of-the-art processing unit in a steading on the estate. In addition, vegetables on the menu come mostly from the hall gardens. Our supper began in great style: runny quail scotch egg with aubergine pickle, paella-stuffed mussels and a fallow sausage with wild garlic blossom mayo, followed by venison raviolo, chicken liver parfait and pork terrine. Then we devoured the perfectly pink venison haunch with potato rostis and spring lamb rump piled with white asparagus from the 12-yearold Nedging beds. Despite feeling like Mr Creosote, when the baked custard tart with home-grown stewed rhubarb was deposited, I rallied and wolfed it down. Nursing another pint of Mole Trap (despite an excellent wine list) a deep sense of contentment settled before shuffling up the stairs to a deep night’s slumber.
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Breakfast, as expected, was wonderful. After a wholly unearned but ruthlessly despatched eggs benedict, we departed for a private tour round the Nedging Hall gardens with their beautiful raised beds and fastidiously maintained fruit cages. The Crown has successfully managed to become a destination in its own right while remaining approachable and unpretentious. It is fit for a king without having lost the common touch that ensures a pub remains at the heart of a community.
- Dogs welcome in selected rooms.
- Woodland rooms from £195 (B&B)
