Horns Cross
Devon
EX39 5DL
01237 451222
The Hoops at Horns Cross is a charming 17th century inn on the main A39 road in North Devon. It’s a Grade II listed building made from stone and cob with an elaborately thatched roof. It’s been modernised inside but still has some large old inglenook fireplaces. As you might expect from its main road location, it was once a coaching inn.
It has 13 ensuite bedrooms, a restaurant serving locally sourced food, and a very large garden.
Chris Denham in his excellent book The Local, about West Country pubs, tells the story of how the pub got its name. It comes not from a wagon wheel, but from the old Devon name for a bullfinch, the hoop. The birds were attracted by the apple blossom in the nearby cider apple orchards, causing problems for the growers. Children were paid to catch the birds and bring them to the pub, where they were disposed of.
