Jeremy Clarkson has revealed his big plans for a historic Cotswolds pub as he sets his sights on a new adventure following the success of ‘Clarkson’s Farm’.
The 64-year-old TV presenter paid ‘less than £1million’ for The Windmill, an elegant and highly regarded establishment near Burford, Oxfordshire. He now hopes to make a name for himself with all-British ingredients and bar games, and a ban on noisy TVs, fruit machines and ‘confusing’ toilet signs.
The old windmill, which has been in the making for years, boasts rave reviews and affordable prices. It was self-described as a ‘magical Oxfordshire wedding and events venue in the heart of the Cotswolds’ before it was announced on June 4 that it was under ‘new ownership’.
Despite early difficulties in finding staff ‘thanks to Brexit’ and teething problems involving an ‘attic full of dead rats’ and ‘illegal’ toilets, Clarkson remains committed to getting the business up and running again quickly. The Sunday newspaper that he has to organize another wedding reception ‘in a few weeks’.
However, his friends are less convinced he is up to the challenge, warning the Grand Tour presenter about the ‘evidence [suggests] “It will be a total disaster.”
‘As a friend put it: “Nowadays owning a pub is crazier than owning a farm. What’s next? Buy a cinema?” Clarkson wrote in the paper.
The presenter described the challenges of opening a pub and his urgent two-week deadline
Jeremy Clarkson co-owns the brewery when Hawkstone lager is made
A photograph of The Windmill pub in Oxfordshire, recently purchased by Jeremy Clarkson
Yet the seasoned journalist has gone from strength to strength in recent months as co-owner of the Cotswold brewery that makes his Hawkstone lager, which he added to his growing portfolio in 2021 and which uses barley grown on his nearby Diddly Squat farm.
The next step, he wrote, was a place where he could sell “everything we make on the farm” — and pour his own beer on tap.
“I just needed the pub where all this could happen,” Clarkson wrote The Sunday newspaper“And then, after looking at about 14,000 of them, I found the right place.”
He wrote that after purchasing The Windmill he discovered there was “a famous dog park in the area.”
‘I went to West Oxfordshire district council, not expecting any help at all, and I was absolutely devastated, they were very happy to close the dogging site down. So I was in business.’
The former Top Gear presenter said he envisions a ‘cosy’ and homely pub with a bar where you can play billiards, darts and a garden. And a place where he can go with his granddaughter on Sundays for ham, egg and chips.
“Well priced, British food with a pint of Hawkstone beer,” he suggested in another soft plug for his own brew.
Clarkson described the difficulty he had in finding the right pub before settling on The Windmill.
He ‘obviously’ couldn’t buy his village pub because ‘the locals would set me on fire’.
Others had extra baggage with them; one of those, he said, was a drug lab on the county lines.
Earlier this month it was reported that villagers had raised concerns that their ‘Venice of the Cotswolds’ could be overrun with visitors if he bought the Grade II listed Coach & Horses Inn in Gloucestershire.
It came after huge queues formed around Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm near Chipping Norton, just a 20-minute drive from the pub, after the store reopened in May.
Avid viewers of the show came from the United States, Wales and Germany to the former Top Gear star’s farm to celebrate the new release of the highly anticipated third season.
Earlier this month, a police van parked outside the Cotswolds farm after some customers were told they could not enter an already overcrowded car park.
In this hit farming series, the 64-year-old former Top Gear and Grand Tour presenter struggles with the daily challenges of running his 1,000-acre Diddly Squat Farm.
Series one and two, which released in June 2021 and February 2023 respectively, were instant hits with audiences across the UK, who were delighted by the series’ array of quirky characters and comedic calamities.
The Windmill is a 400-year-old coaching inn that received rave reviews before closing
Villagers feared traffic chaos amid rumours that Jeremy Clarkson (pictured at his farm shop) wanted to buy a historic pub that could attract large crowds
Huge queues can be seen outside Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm shop in the Cotswolds after it reopened last month
The purchase of the pub in Oxfordshire ties together its farming and beer brewing activities. He uses barley grown at Diddly Squat for his Hawkstone beer.
Clarkson teamed up with family-owned Cotswold Brewing Company in 2021 to launch Hawkstone just 10 miles away from his farm.
The beer brand was quickly named the fastest growing private brewery in Britain, with annual sales of £7.8m in March.
Clarkson shared ambitious plans to continue – his aim is to sell his beer in ‘200,000 pubs, from the Pacific Northwest to Brisbane’.