83, Gloucester Street
Winchcombe
Gloucestershire
GL54 5LX
01242 602303
The building is a Grade II* listed farmhouse dating way back to the 16th Century, but the Corner Cupboard only became a pub in 1872. The name apparently came from the fact that almost every corner in the house at the time had a cupboard, and there are still two 16th century corner cupboards in the bar.
There are several bars including a restaurant and a stone-flagged real ale bar. Cask beers include Wye Valley Butty Bach and Taylor’s Landlord. Food is served lunchtimes and evenings every day.
It’s not too hard to spot that the pub is built of golden Cotswold limestone (photo 1) but less obvious is the identity of the bust above the door. It is the Victorian Prime Minister Disraeli, but it’s not clear if he ever had any connection to the pub. (photo 2).
The Corner Cupboard is also haunted, with reports of a young girl heard running across the floor above the bar.
‘Best in the West’ plaques are a common sight in pubs in Gloucestershire and neighbouring counties (photo 3). They show that the pub was once owned by West Country Breweries which was formed after a merger of breweries in Cheltenham and Stroud in 1958. They must have moved quickly to fit the plaques to all their pubs because they were taken over by Whitbread in 1964.
