An historic 17th century coaching inn in Cheshire's "most picturesque village" is to get a major transformation to become a new destination foodie pub. The Cock o' Budworth is a local landmark in the village of Great Budworth - known as a village so pretty and frozen in time that film crews flock there for period dramas.
Now the pub's owners Holt's Brewery have announced a new parternship with the burgeoning Cheshire Pub Co. to create a new future for the old pub. Cheshire Pub Co are the team behind the recent transformation of the former Red Lion to become The Space Invader in Goostrey and also own the acclaimed Churchill Tree pub in Nether Alderley.
The partnership comes after Holt’s Brewery reached out for an independent associate to lead a new beginning for the 17th century coaching inn. They say they hope the partnership will now bring a "unique, independent touch to its operation as a local, and destination, drinking and dining spot".
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The team at Cheshire Pub Co. say they “are both humbled and excited to be working with one of the North West’s leading brewers” and will “enter into the partnership with the same energy and spirit they give to all their leading venues across Cheshire.”
The Cock O’Budworth’s home is a stunning large Grade II listed farmhouse with a cobbled frontage and large rear garden. While the property has already had significant recent refurbishments, the Cheshire Pub Co. team say they will be "taking a little time before relaunching the pub to add some important signature touches which make their pubs so unique".
It will become the seventh pub in the group's growing stable when it does reopen, which is set to be mid-February.
The Cock sits just on the edge of the main village high street - which is known for another historic pub The George and Dragon, as well as a chocolate box scene of pretty timber-framed cottages and cobbled streets.
It was here that Cheshire's most famous son, Harry Styles, famously took Taylor Swift for a date when they were a showbiz couple back in 2012. Harry is also known to be a regular visitor to Great Budworth's Ice Cream Farm, at the other end of the village.
Cheshire Pub Co. started its collection of pubs with The Ship Styal in 2014. They added The Frozen Mop, Mobberley in late 2019 and The Churchill Tree at Alderley Park and the Crown and Conspirator, Bramhall, both in 2020.
The group then launched a first in the way of a vegan enterprise called Otto Vegan Empire in Bramhall to cater for the rise of more specialised diets, before launching The Space Invader, Goostrey in 2022 after an extensive refurb which brought a cherished old local back from the brink.
The group has also revealed plans to launch the Rascal and Radical at the historic Old Fire Station in Tarporley in Cheshire, also set to open in the spring. This venue will offer bistro-style dining that will be the first of its kind for the group.
The pub company is known for its quirky details - including offering traditional "early door bar nibbles" for drinking guests as well as cockles and pickles at last orders.
Bosses say they will be focussing on the historic details of The Cock, as well as reflecting the history of the village of Great Budworth in their refurb. The pub is famously mentioned in a poem of 1648 by Richard Braithwaite describing "Drunken Barnaby's visit to the North of England".
In it, he wrote: "Thence to th’ Cock at Budworth, where Drank strong ale as brown as a berry."
A spokeswoman for the company said: "The Cheshire Pub Co. team will express their interests in the historic details of the pub, and the village of Budworth, where it’s reported ‘Soul Cake’ folk plays and Doomsday connections encourage traditional annual celebrations.
"The team wish to provide a destination in Budworth where guests can reconvene and reconnect with these historical stories and past times, whilst making new memories for the history books."
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