New country pub and hotel to open in Woodford Valley

“The Great Bustard” will be located in Woodford Valley, three miles from Stonehenge and six miles from Salisbury. 

Rooms are to be “elegantly decorated” with natural materials: oak flooring and exposed beams, bathrooms stocked with the estate's organic Durnford products, large walk-in showers and traditional nickel and porcelain wash stands. Furniture will be a mix of antique and contemporary, with ceramic and earthenware lamps.

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Part of the Great Durnford Estate, renowned as the location for the reintroduction of the Great Bustard to the UK, the pub is named after these birds that were once close to extinction but have now been successfully reinstated in the area.
A watercolour painting of The Great Bustard (Image: The Great Bustard)Like the pub itself, bedrooms will be named after birds that have also been successfully re-introduced to the UK.

The Great Bustard will offer comforting, hearty cooking, a selection of more refined dishes in the restaurant and a combination of the two in The Courtyard, the restored walled garden.

Each menu will be based on to farm-to-table dining and feature produce found on the doorstep, inspired by the seasons. Head Chef Jordan Taylor will work alongside local, passionate producers and farmers to deliver the highest quality dishes.

A “meticulously considered” wine list, craft beers and home-infused tipples will be available across the pub and restaurant.

General Manager, Matheus Sanches said: “It’s a unique concept, there’s nothing quite like it around.

"We’re not just providing beautiful accommodation and excellent food; we’re creating a destination that adds vibrancy to our area whilst also bringing back a place for locals to come together and foster a collective sense of pride in this beautiful pocket of English countryside.”

The Great Bustard will also be home to The Black Grouse private dining room seating 12, a treatment room and a farm shop. 

The farm shop will be a converted shepherd’s hut stocked with DURNFORD products including artisanal jams, chutneys and pickles, game from the estate, DURNFORD botanical products including hand cream and oils made in partnership with local aromatherapist, Annie Brown, and hand packaged by the Great Durnford Estate team.

The hotel will also feature "Osprey wellness room," providing a “calm and restorative space” with treatments, including aromatherapy massages and facials, using artisanal brand, DURNFORD, on offer.

The Great Bustard will open on Wednesday, June 26.