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 History
Sheepscombe Valley, to the east
of Painswick, is protected by beautiful beech woods
on the slopes to either side. In the 18th and 19th centuries
the ample water supply from the hillside springs attracted
clothiers and cloth workers to the area. There were
many ale houses in the small village and the villagers
had a reputation for being idle, aggressive and immoral.
It was said that they got so drunk after pay day that
the mill often had to close.
Nowadays, the villagers have improved their habits a
little and the one remaining pub, The Butchers Arms,
is the hub of village life.
The Butchers Arms
The pub dates from about 1670 and
is original in many respects with log fires, stone walls
up to two metres thick and mullioned stone windows.
The Butchers Arms is so called because
the carcasses of deer killed in the hunt were hung in
what is now the bar.
Only the left hand end of the building
started life as a tavern or ale-house and originally
the pub would just have served ale and perhaps porter.
Over the years The Butchers Arms has expanded into the
two adjacent cottages and the present day building houses
the original bar and two adjoining dining rooms.
 This
photograph of a group of local ladies taken outside
The Butchers Arms appears to date from the 1940s or
1950s and shows: Edie Workman (village nurse), Florrie
West, Mrs Payne, Mrs Purcell. (Photo by kind permission
of Sheepscombe History Society)
 Our
Famous Inn Sign
The Butchers Arms has an unlikely
national claim to fame. Our carved sign of a butcher
sipping a pint of beer with a pig tied to his leg is
probably the best known and photographed pub sign in
the country and is featured in many publications on
the subject. We asked artist Barnaby Catt-Morrison to
draw the famous sign for us and the resultant woodcut-style
illustration now features on our menus as well as on
our website.(Photo by Johnny Johnson)
Laurie Lee
The famous author Laurie Lee, author
of "Cider with Rosie" lived in the nearby
village of Slad and, until his death in 1997, he was
a regular visitor to The Butchers Arms.
Myths and legends
The gallows for the region was situated
on the green at Sheepscombe just below the pub and there
are numerous tales of ghosts in the village, not least
of a lady in mauve who is said to be the ghost of the
lady who reformed Sheepscombe at the beginning of the
19th century, closing down some ale houses and encouraging
the villagers to attend church.
Sheepscombe History Society
You can find out more about the history
of Sheepscombe by visiting the Sheepscombe History Society's
website by clicking here.
Copies of Elizabeth Skinner's book
"Sheepscombe - One Thousand Years in this Gloucestershire
Valley" are on sale The Butchers Arms.
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