OUR HISTORY

THE BEGINNING OF THE CAREW ARMS

Originally known as The Three Lions, the pub owes its name and signboard to the Carew family who became lords of the manor in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The first Carew to become lord of the manor was Thomas. His great uncle, Vice Admiral George Carew, was captaining the Mary Rose when she sank in Portsmouth harbour during the reign of Henry VIII. The Inn still retains much of it rural charm.

Today, our summers are often spent with Jamie and Julie cooking up a storm as usual with fresh fish and chips on Friday nights, and barbecuing throughout the weekend. In Winter we cosy up, light the log fire in our front bar and enjoy comforting, home-made food and a glass of mulled cider in our tranquil, rural village.

Journey through the last 500 years of our beautiful building…

VILLAGE HISTORY

The first written mention of Crowcombe was in 854, in a document of King Ethelwulf who was father of Alfred the Great, where it was spelt ‘Cerawicombe’. Fifty years later some land at ‘Crawncombe’ was granted to Alfred’s son, King Edward the Elder, and appears to have remained in the possession of the Saxon kings, It probably passed to the Earl Godwin and then on to his death to his widow Gytha. Gytha granted the estate to Winchester to atone for her husband’s sins. The Doomsday Book of 1086 gives the name as ‘Crawcombe’, and the manor as being held by Robert of Mortain.

In the 13th century the manor was given the right to hold a market(1227) and the first recorded fair was held in 1234. It was not long after this that the manor was split when part of the estate was willed to the Prioress of Studley, and was held by the Priory until the time of the dissolution 1534. The other half remain in the family and was known as Crowcombe-Biccombe, it was this half that came into the ownership of the Carews.

THE CAREW ARMS WAS FOUNDED

Originally known as The Three Lions, the pub owes its name and signboard to the Carew family who became lords of the manor in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The first Carew to become lord of the manor was Thomas. His great uncle, Vice Admiral George Carew, was captaining the Mary Rose when she sank in Portsmouth harbour during the reign of Henry VIII. The Inn still retains much of it rural charm.

The pub’s sign shows the arms of the Carew Family 3 lions which was the original name.

THE PUB CHANGED HANDS

The Inn was for a number of years run by the Lock Family; Mrs Lock ran the pub with her son Cyril, Cyril was a bit of a character, who left most of the work to his mother whilst he did his bit of farming. One story told about Cyril was that he would drive his Hay cart down from the fields at Harvest time and unbeknown to him other harvesters would attach to the bottom of the cart all the dead rats, killed during the cause of the harvesting of the hay.

Cyril would be seen driving quickly along looking for the source of the noise as the rats dangled beneath hitting the floor of the wagon and then the road. It was a sight of great amusement to all the villagers!

THE MIDDLE

The present population of Crowcombe is about 500 and the parish covers the hamlets of Crowcombe Heathfield, Flaxpool, Halsway, Lawford and Triscombe. It has one shop, The Carew Arms (of course), a local first school and a wine merchant as well as several small businesses. Extraordinarily similar to the last few hundred years. Despite the lack of shopping facilities, it is certainly worth stopping here to view the architecture and take in the ambience of this ancient village. There is a free public car park behind the church house.

TODAY…

Our bar and waiting staff are all committed to provided a great level of service, with a smile.

Our summers are often spent with fresh fish and chips on Friday nights, and barbecuing throughout the weekend. We went the full hog and installed an outdoor pizza oven and new garden decking in 2018.

Then there’s our Annual Beer, cider & music Festival which is been a popular event for the last 12 years. Local ciders and ales, live music and more. Roll on our next one in July 2024!

In Winter we cosy up, light the log fire in our front bar and relax. Imagine you with your dog resting on our flagstone floor while you play a board game or borrow a book from our bookshelf and enjoy comforting, home-made food and a glass of mulled-cider in our tranquil, rural village.