A traditional village pub with an award-winning restaurant, The Acorn Inn ticks all the boxes for ‘perfect Dorset pub’: idyllic location, atmospheric interiors, excellent food and drink, cosy rooms – and great Thomas Hardy credentials.

Located in the tiny village of Evershot, on the edge of the Melbury Estate with its stately home and deer park, the former 16th century coaching inn is part of the family-owned Red Carnation Hotel Collection (their gorgeous 5* country house hotel, Summer Lodge, is further down the same street).

Thomas Hardy mentions both the village (renamed ‘Evershed’) and the pub (‘The Sow and Acorn’) in Tess of the d’Urbervilles and other novels.

It’s very much a traditional pub, with oak beams and panelling, flagstone floors, exposed stone walls, a West Country skittle alley, and roaring fires that are as warm as the welcome. You’ll find locals in the bar as well as visitors from afar.

Relax in the lounge – leather chesterfields, club chairs – with a drink before dinner. Eat in the bar or the main restaurant, seated on leather banquettes or at country style tables and chairs.

The award-winning menu created by head chef Ana Martins focuses on the best of local produce – which is plentiful in this part of the world – and results in classic dishes on a cut above menu and a clutch of accolades, including  The Good Pub Guide’s Best Country Dining Pub 2021/20 and the Dorset Magazine Food, Drink & Farming Awards’ Chef of the Year in 2019.

Upstairs there are ten lovely ensuite rooms – doubles, twins and one with a four-poster – plus a family suite in the eaves, each named for a Thomas Hardy theme. Nice touch.

Pet and child-friendly inside and out – there’s a good-sized garden out at the back – The Acorn Inn makes for a great stop for couples, friends and family.