The Fox, Bramdean

A 17th-century weatherboarded country inn on the A272 just south of Alresford, run by Mandy and Pete. It has a carved Prince of Wales crest, log fires, home-cooked food and shepherd's huts in the garden.

Plenty of pubs claim a royal connection. The Fox in Bramdean has one carved in oak and fixed to its front wall. The crest is the Prince of Wales's feathers, mounted on an iron bracket, and it marks a visit in 1780 by the Prince who later became George IV. Historic England notes it in the pub's Grade II listing, which has stood since 1955. The building is older than that visit by a good margin. Behind the brick and the white weatherboarding there's a timber frame from the 17th century, with later work from the 18th and 20th centuries. A village older than its maps Bramdean first appears in...