The National Lottery Heritage Fund awards £208,000
Chair of Nympsfield Community Pub Limited, Matthew Burke, said: "This is a landmark moment for our village. Thanks to National Lottery players, we can now save the Rose & Crown Inn and bring it back as a thriving, welcoming community hub."
THANK YOU to the gardeners, bakers, tea‑pourers and organisers for an amazing Nympsfield Open Gardens day on 13 June. Do send in any photos.
The Rose & Crown Inn
Our Vision
To create a welcoming pub at the heart of our village to meet, socialise and connect with others - owned by and for the benefit of the community.
What we are doing and why
Our Mission
To purchase the only pub in our village, the Rose & Crown Inn, and transform it into a thriving community business that will benefit the residents of Nympsfield and the surrounding villages, as well as attracting visitors from farther afield to use its restaurant and accommodation.
We aim to convert part of the building into a community café and village shop ensuring that our pub provides much-needed services and amenities for all sections of the community in this relatively isolated rural village.
Impact
Reopening the Rose & Crown Inn as a community-owned pub will reinvigorate our village by providing local groups, friends, and neighbours with a convivial hub to meet and socialise throughout the day. By appealing to all sections of the community the pub will improve social cohesion and reduce social isolation as well as provide residents with training and employment opportunities; and as a thriving profitable enterprise the pub has the potential to provide essential funding to other community groups in Nympsfield. When we achieve these outcomes, we know that our project has succeeded.
History of the Rose & Crown Inn
The earliest mention of this historic building is in 1684, when a lease in which the building where the Rose and Crown now is, and its adjoining meadow, were rented for £23 per annum,
Originally known as the Ducie Arms, our village pub changed its name to the Rose and Crown around 1890s.
An advertisement in Symonds 1907 directory reads:
‘First class house for boarding residents in the most picturesque part of Gloucestershire. Excellent catering and capital accommodation for visitors, picnic parties, cyclists, etc. An ideal spot to spend a weekend. Good stabling. Prop. J. Ford.’
The ownership of the pub passed through Stroud Brewery and on to Whitebread brewery, before the freehold was bought in the 1980s.
Sadly, last orders were called on the Rose & Crown Inn early 2023.
Nympsfield Community Pub Limited was incorporated in April 2024 as a community benefit society to acquire the Rose & Crown Inn as a community-owned pub for the benefit of the community.
Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund
The rescue and restoration of Nympsfield's Rose & Crown Community Pub is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we will be able to undertake urgent heritage works, including a full roof replacement, structural timber repairs, restoration of the unique spring-fed cellar cooling system, and improvements to accessibility.
These interventions will protect the building's historic fabric and ensure it can once again serve as a vibrant community hub.
The project will also deliver a permanent heritage display and digital archive, celebrating the Inn's long history as a landmark of the village and a focal point for social connection across generations.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Our Supporters
