Cheers! Lord pays £400k to rescue pub from being closed down and converted into housing development
• Bottle and Glass in Oxfordshire was due to be turned into housing
• But estate of Lord Francis Phillimore, where Loddon Brewery is based paid £500,000 to keep it open
• It is hoped new landlord will sell LODDON beer once the pub has re-opened
A Grade II listed pub has been rescued after an aristocrat splashed out nearly £500,000 to save it from last orders.
Lord Francis Phillimore’s estate bought the 400-year-old Bottle And Glass in Binfield Heath, Oxfordshire, to prevent it from being turned into housing.
The thatched building has been closed since the last landlord quit in July 2013, and drinkers in the village – with a population of 700, including many workers on Lord Phillimore’s nearby estate – had feared the worst.
But now the owner, brewer Brakspear, has done a deal with Lord Phillimore, a 70-year-old retired barrister, who has paid more than £400,000 to pay for refurbishments and extensions.
Adrian Beales, an agent acting for the estate, said: ‘They wanted to help the community and try to save it as a pub.’
The inn will be let and it is hoped the new landlord will sell beer from the Loddon Brewery, which is brewed on the Phillimore estate.
