Bar in churchyard wins Heavy Woollen CAMRA branch Pub of the Season award

Branch chairman Mike Roebuck handed the certificate for autumn 2021 to the licensees, Paul Caffrey and Natasha Stobbart, and congratulated them on their achievement against stiff competition.

Paul and Natasha thanked their hard-working staff and the support of the customers.

The Savile Arms is the first pub that Paul and Natasha have run, and they carried out extensive refurbishments before opening in August last year.

Situated in a picturesque corner of Thornhill, the pub was built around 1777 and extended into the adjacent churchyard, making the Savile Arms one of only three licensed premises in the country to sit partly on consecrated ground.

There are now has six handpumps, with Black Sheep Bitter as the permanent beer. The remainder have a strong Yorkshire influence, with regional and national brews making an appearance.

A keen CAMRA supporter, Paul has applied for the establishment to be granted LocAle status.

This initiative accredits premises stocking locally brewed ale, thereby reducing the number of "beer miles" from brewery to pub cellar and supporting local brewers.

Opening times are now 4pm until 11pm Monday to Friday, with an earlier start time of 12pm on weekends.

Meals are provided for pre-arranged parties but a regular menu is planned for this spring.