Assheton Arms

About Assheton Arms

An historic 18th century village pub, across the road from a 13th century church, in the 8th century Lancashire village of Downham, across the valley from the mysterious Pendle Hill. Among all this picturesque history is a Grade II-listed community inn with an alter ego as a destination eating place. The Assheton Arms is operated by the family-owned Seafood Pub Company which also has the acclaimed Oyster & Otter gastropub at Feniscowles, Blackburn. So you can expect the same highest quality, locally sourced food, cooked and presented to perfection by a top chef and highly-trained kitchen staff with a passion for service excellence. It's the same broad concept as the Oyster & Otter but adapted to a traditional country pub that still has a stone fireplace dating back to 1765 in a village that has no TV aerials, overhead cables, double yellow lines, dormer windows or road signs. An eight week, £400,000 restoration programme has created a two-storey,130-cover eatery with four dining rooms with new oak flooring and fittings, Lancashire cooking ranges, restored antique radiators and private dining areas where customers can personalise their own lighting and i-pod sound systems. The best seasonal seafood comes automatically because the Assheton Arms is leased to the daughter of the North West's most prominent seafood dynasty. Joycelyn Neve's father, Chris, had a trusted wholesale supply business that operated its own fleet of trawlers and delivered catches to restaurants, hotels and caterers throughout the north of England, as far as London, and to luxury liners like the QE2. Now Chris scouts Fleetwood for the best buys from the trawlermen and ensures it's at the Assheton Arms within hours joining with fresh poultry, pork, beef and lamb for the menu's non-fish dishes. Executive chef Antony Shirley adds his international experience from Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge to Raffles in the West Indies to guarantee exceptional food, cooked and presented the way it should be. The Assheton Arms has been named Lancashire Life Dining Pub of the Year' just eight months after opening.

Other Seafood Pub Company properties include the Oyster & Otter at Feniscowles, near Blackburn, the Fenwick Arms at Claughton, near Lancaster, the Derby Arms at Thornley, near Longridge the Farmers Arms at Great Eccleston, near Garstang and the Town Green Brasserie in Ormskirk.