Two smiling young adults, a woman and a man, standing on a stone step in front of an old stone building with a blue sign that says 'ROSE'. They are wearing matching blue T-shirts with initials 'R&L' and casual jeans and sneakers.

About us

Join us at The Rose & Crown, a family-run pub in the village of Bradford Abbas, nestled between Sherborne and Yeovil in the Dorset countryside.

Set in a 15th-century building, we keep things simple - good, homemade food, a relaxed atmosphere, and a warm welcome for locals and visitors alike. Whether you’re by the fire in the winter or out in the beer garden in the summer, it’s a place to unwind and feel at home.

The pub has been run by Samie and Arran since January 2025, and it’s very much a local story.

Arran, our landlord and chef, actually started out here at The Rose & Crown as a pot washer at just 14. After training at The Eastbury Hotel in Sherborne and going on to become Head Chef at The Quicksilver Mail in Yeovil, he’s come full circle to run the kitchen here. A local lad whose family has lived in the village for over six generations, Arran is passionate about proper home-cooked food and creating a pub where people can come together. He’s also a keen gardener and is working towards bringing more homegrown produce onto the menu.

Samie, our landlady, grew up in the village too and has strong family roots here going back generations. Alongside running the pub, she works as a secondary school teacher and is actively involved in the local community, including her role as PTA Secretary at St Mary’s Primary School. You’ll often find her behind the bar, making sure everyone feels welcome. Her aim is to keep the pub at the heart of the village, bringing people together through events, charity work and community connections.

Together, we’re proud to be running our village pub and hope you’ll come and be part of it.

If you’d like to book a table, just get in touch - we’d love to see you.

GET IN TOUCH

Meet the Team

  • A man and woman standing outside in front of a stone building, smiling, wearing matching navy blue T-shirts with R&C printed on them, and jeans or black pants.

    Arran

    LANDLORD/HEAD CHEF

    Favourite Drink: Thatchers Gold
    Fun Fact: I dreamed of running my village pub - and then actually became the landlord.

  • Two young adults, a woman and a man, standing on a stone step in front of a brick wall with a stone archway entrance behind them. They are smiling and wearing matching blue shirts. The woman has long hair and ripped jeans, and the man has short hair and black pants. There is a blue sign on the wall that says "Cask Marque".

    Samie

    LANDLADY

    Favourite Drink: Pink Gin & Lemonade
    Fun Fact: I’ve gone from working on the fun fair at Butlins, to teaching the next generation life skills in food & child development, all while firmly believing petrol stations should really be someone else’s problem.

  • Two people standing on a stone step in front of a stone building, smiling at the camera. They are wearing matching blue shirts with "R&C" printed on them.

    Sandie

    BACK OF HOUSE / ACCOUNTS & PAYROLL

    Favourite Drink: Vodka & Diet Coke
    Fun Fact: I managed to break my arm tripping over a drain while leaving the pub on Christmas Eve, used to be a Beaver Scout leader, and am now affectionately known as “Nana” by pretty much every child I meet - related or not.

  • A young woman with long wavy brown hair, wearing glasses on her head, a white tank top, and a pearl necklace, smiling softly against a plain light-colored background.

    Ash

    BARTENDER, FRONT OF HOUSE & MARKETING

    Favourite Drink: Pink Gin & Lemonade
    Fun Fact: I’ve gone from working for Cadbury’s to becoming a fully qualified casino dealer, and now work as a photographer. I can also name almost every dog in Sherborne.

  • A woman with curly dark hair, wearing a beige sleeveless top and light brown pants, sitting on a bench in a room with soft, warm lighting and shadows cast on the wall behind her.

    Emma

    BARTENDER & FRONT OF HOUSE

    Favourite Drink: Pina colada or any fruity cocktail.
    Fun Fact: I’m a musician and DJ, half Maltese, train in calisthenics and have a full motorcycle license

  • A young woman and a young man standing on a porch in front of a stone wall, smiling at the camera. The woman has long hair, wearing a blue T-shirt and ripped jeans. The man has a beard and short hair, wearing a dark blue T-shirt and black pants.

    Ellena

    FRONT OF HOUSE

    Favourite drink: Cherry Lucozade
    Fun Fact: I love to paddleboard!

  • A man and woman standing side by side on a stone step outside a building with a stone wall. Both are smiling and wearing dark blue t-shirts with white writing. The woman has long hair and is wearing ripped jeans, while the man has short hair and is wearing black pants.

    Nate

    FRONT OF HOUSE

    Favourite Drink: Pepsi Max
    Fun Fact: I play for Somerset County Rugby

  • Two smiling people, a woman and a man, standing on a stone doorstep in front of a stone building, wearing matching blue shirts with initials R&C.

    Emily

    BARTENDER & FRONT OF HOUSE

    Favourite Drink: Raspberry Gin & Lemonade
    Fun Fact: I’ll try pretty much anything once - from baking cakes to qualifying in nails - and somehow ended up working in a school too. Basically a jack of all trades, master of none… but never boring.

  • A man with gray hair is sitting on a bench in front of a plain wall, wearing a blue sweater and beige pants, with shadows cast on the wall behind him.

    Tony

    BARTENDER & FRONT OF HOUSE

    Favourite Drink: Yorkshire Tea
    Fun Fact: I have webbed feet and one foot with 6 toes

  • Millie

    PUB TEENAGER

    Favourite Drink: Pepsi
    Fun Fact: I swam with Dolphins in Lanzarote & I’m going to Borneo Camps International in 2027!

    Donate Here!

  • Benji

    PUB WILD CHILD

    Favourite Drink: Apple & Raspberry J2O
    Fun Fact: I do parkour

  • Ruby

    FRONT OF HOUSE

    Favourite Drink: Double Vodka & Coke
    Fun Fact: I used to be a competitive dancer.

Our History

A History Steeped in Dorset Tradition

At the heart of the beautiful village of Bradford Abbas, beneath the tower of the parish church, stands the Rose & Crown - a timeless Dorset inn whose story is woven into the history and character of the village itself.

Dating back to the 14th century, the Rose & Crown has long been far more than simply a village pub. Built from mellow local stone, it has served generations of farmers, railwaymen, travellers, skittles teams and villagers alike - a proper English inn where good beer, lively conversation and local tradition have always gone hand in hand.

The pub achieved unexpected fame in the 1930s through two British Movietone films entitled Lads of the Village. Filmed inside the Rose & Crown and around Bradford Abbas, the short films featured a remarkable group of elderly local characters whose combined ages totalled an astonishing 444 years - at a time when average life expectancy was little more than 60.

Among them were:

  • Tom Coombes (91), who began work at just six years old scaring birds from fields

  • Sam Ring (92), who still rose early to chop his own firewood

  • James Higgins (89), known for carrying the walking sticks he had made decades earlier “for when they might come in useful”

  • George Chainey (89), often seen around the village with his sheepdog

  • Sid Parsons (83), a retired railwayman

Together with Mrs Parsons (91) and her daughter, they were filmed enjoying village life - collecting pensions at the post office, sharing stories over pints in the Rose & Crown, and playing skittles in the pub’s historic alley.

The films proved a sensation. When screened at Yeovil’s Gaumont Palace cinema, the villagers were chauffeur-driven to the premiere in five cars and welcomed with a standing ovation. None of them had ever visited a cinema before. Their fame soon spread far beyond Dorset, with newspapers carrying stories of the “Old Men of Bradford Abbas” as far away as Australia and Tasmania.

The second film captured another cherished local tradition - a skittle match in the Rose & Crown’s ancient alley. Between throws, the players paused for refreshments and broke into old Crimean War recruiting songs, perfectly capturing the warmth, humour and camaraderie of the traditional English village pub.

Skittles has remained at the heart of the Rose & Crown ever since. The pub’s historic alley continues to host generations of local teams and memorable evenings, keeping alive one of Dorset’s great pub traditions.

The Rose & Crown later became closely associated with Dorset brewer Eldridge Pope, who revived the famous “Lads of the Village” images in advertising campaigns during the 1960s and 70s, featuring the Bradford Abbas regulars on beer mats and local buses across the county.

Today, while much has changed around it, the Rose & Crown remains proudly rooted in the traditions that made it famous - warm hospitality, good beer, village sport and lively company. Nearly seven centuries after its beginnings, it is still, in every sense, a true Dorset village pub.

A black-and-white photo of a street scene with people standing along a curb and walking in the street, in front of houses with chimneys, trees, and a cloudy sky.
Black-and-white photo of five men in a restaurant or pub, some wearing hats. Three men are seated at a table with drinks and playing cards, while two men are standing, one handing a drink to a seated man and the other holding a pipe and smiling.
Two women standing close together outdoors, both wearing dark clothing and hats, in black-and-white photograph.
Five men sitting at a bar table with drinks, wearing hats and suits, in a black and white photo. A sign above reads 'Eldridge Pope' and 'Are First in the Field'.