The Old Farm Inn - Church Road, Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, UK
Posted by: 
Dragontree
N 51° 52.781 W 000° 33.771
30U E 667747 N 5750463
The Old Farm Inn is a historic building with a historic restaurant inside.
Waymark Code: WMA1KB
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/01/2010
Views: 3
The pub sign depicts the old farm with the farmer's wife feeding the chickens, a dog in the foreground and a hay cart.
This is an important building in the village of Totternhoe described in detail on the Bedford Borough Council website, an extract of which is below:
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'As may be deduced from the name, the Old Farm public house began life as a farm. It was listed by the former Department of Environment in September 1980 as Grade II, of special interest. The listing dates the property to the 17th century "with later additions and alterations". It is a timber-framed building with colourwashed brick nogging i.e. infill between the timber framing). It has two storeys beneath a clay tile roof. The timber-framing visible at the front is, in fact, fake!
The first suggestion that the Old Farm had become a licensed premises is in the Post Office Directory of 1869 when Daniel Twidell is noted as being victualler and shopkeeper at The Old Farm Inn.
Totternhoe, like much of Bedfordshire, was assessed in 1927 and the valuer visiting The Old Farm Public House [DV1/C101/77] noted that it was owned by Roberts & Wilson Limited and occupied by Fanny Scott who still paid £8 per annum in rent. This suggests that at some point Roberts and Wilson bought the Gurney family out. They were themselves taken over in that year by Benskins Watford Brewery.
Fanny Scott was to remain the licensee for at least 47 years, the last renewal of her licence held by Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service being that of 1960 when the owner is still listed as Benskins.....now owned by Fuller, Smith & Turner. It is now one of only two in the village, the other being the Cross Keys| in Castle Hill Road.'
The Darts website has some further details:
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'Mentioned in the Doomsday book, the majority of the building is 14th century and when the pub became an Inn it remained in one family for about 100 years. The present landlord Martyn Clark (below) became the new licensee in May 2008 and gained a quick reputation for a well kept cellar.'
And finally the food today is described:
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'We serve tasty daily lunches in the front bar and also in our relaxed cosy restaurant to the rear of the pub where we also serve our Sunday roasts should you prefer a quieter area to eat, comfortably seating 25 people or around 50 people standing is also available for buffets and other functions.'