Eat and drink · Painswick
The Butchers Arms
A free house in the Sheepscombe valley, about two miles by road from Painswick, in Laurie Lee country, with dogs on a lead welcome in the garden and bar.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · EV charging
A free house in the Sheepscombe valley near Painswick, with dogs welcome in the bar and garden and walks from the door. Tell them about the dog when you book.
- Good: Dogs on a lead in the garden and bar
- Good: Walks leaflet at the bar
- Good: Two EV charge points and ample parking
- Worth knowing: Closed mid-afternoon Monday to Thursday
- Worth knowing: Tables booked by phone or email only
- Worth knowing: Food on Sundays only until 4pm
About
The Butchers Arms is a free house in the Sheepscombe valley, about two miles by road from Painswick. This is Cider with Rosie country: Laurie Lee lived locally and was a regular here. The pub calls itself a traditional free house and is one of the Heartstone Inns group.
The food is home-cooked pub cooking from local produce where possible, with a specials board, a pie of the week and a menu that changes twice a year, alongside real ales, ciders and a short wine list. Food is served from midday to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 8.30pm on weekdays, midday to 8.30pm on Saturdays, and midday to 4pm on Sundays and bank holidays. From Monday to Thursday the pub closes from 3pm to 5pm. Tables are booked by phone or email, not online.
Dogs on a lead are welcome in the garden and bar; mention them when you book. There is ample parking with two EV chargers, and the bar hands out a leaflet of walks from the door, up to a stretch of the Cotswold Way. Two shepherd huts beside the pub are let for overnight stays.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Tue 10, 11:30
| Mon | Opening | Food served |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 11:30 to 15:00, 17:00 to 22:00 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 20:30 |
| Tuesday | 11:30 to 15:00, 17:00 to 22:00 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 20:30 |
| Wednesday | 11:30 to 15:00, 17:00 to 22:00 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 20:30 |
| Thursday | 11:30 to 15:00, 17:00 to 22:00 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 20:30 |
| Friday | 11:30 to 22:00 | 12:00 to 14:30, 17:30 to 20:30 |
| Saturday | 11:30 to 22:30 | 12:00 to 20:30 |
| Sunday | 11:30 to 18:00 | 12:00 to 16:00 |
Food served: Bank holidays as Sunday. Evening service may be shorter Monday to Thursday when quiet.
May close earlier on quiet evenings. Bank holidays follow Sunday hours, 11.30am to 6pm.
The details
- Food
- Pub classics
- Serving
- Lunch · Dinner
- Booking a table
- Booking recommended
- Features
- Bar · Garden or terrace · Real ale · Dogs inside · Parking · Views
- Parking
- Ample parking, with two 7kW EV charge points for customers, paid through the Monta app.
Photos
The bar 
Pub food 
The dining room 
From the kitchen
Location
Places to stay nearby
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Shepherd Huts at the Butchers Arms
Glamping · Painswick
Two shepherd huts beside the Butchers Arms at Sheepscombe, about two miles by road from Painswick, each with a king-size bed, shower room and kitchen.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · EV charging
Verified Nov 2026
-
Woody's Cottage
Self-catering · Sheepscombe
A National Trust holiday cottage for four in the beechwoods half a mile from Sheepscombe, built in the 19th century for the Ebworth estate, with a garden room looking down the valley.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Walker-friendly
Verified Oct 2026
-
St Anne's
B&B · Painswick
A three-room bed and breakfast in a former wool merchant's house on Gloucester Street, Painswick, suited to Cotswold Way walkers.
Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly · Car-free
Verified Oct 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Shepherd Huts at the Butchers Arms
- Woody's Cottage 0.7 km away
- Painswick Golf Club Bar and Café 2.2 km away
- St Anne's 2.4 km away
Sights nearby
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Painswick Stream
Sight · River · Painswick
The Painswick Stream runs south in the valley below Painswick to the River Frome at Stroud. It drove the town's cloth trade: 25 mills stood in the parish in 1820. Footpaths follow it past Loveday's Mill, Skinners Mill and Kingsmill, old mills that are now homes.
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Snows Farm Nature Reserve
Sight · Nature reserve · Stroud and the Five Valleys
Snows Farm is a Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust reserve of 21 hectares at the head of the Slad valley: old limestone grassland, ancient beech wood and the Dillay Brook, with more than 300 kinds of plant, grazed by cattle and Dartmoor ponies, on the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way.
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Quaker Meeting House, Painswick
Sight · Historic building · Painswick
Painswick's Friends Meeting House is a plain stone meeting house of 1706 off Vicarage Street, built on land given by the Loveday family and still used by Quakers every Sunday. Its walled garden, an old burial ground, is open for quiet reflection. Grade II.
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St Mary's Church, Painswick
Sight · Church · Painswick
St Mary's is Painswick's Grade I parish church, of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries with a tall stone spire, set in a churchyard of clipped yews and carved table tombs that is on the national Register of Parks and Gardens. Open daily; the clipping is each September.