Closed over the winter 2022/23 due to lack of staff. Hours may vary
A world away, yet only 12 minutes by rail from Bath, this sixteenth-century canalside inn with sloping terraces down to the River Avon is popular with walkers, cyclists and narrowboaters. Overlooking the small village is the historic Avoncliff aqueduct where the Kennet & Avon canal crosses both the River Avon and the railway line. Features include inglenook fireplace, priest hole, garden bar, and resident ghost.
Refurbished, inside and out, with superb gardens overlooking the valley.
100 yards from Avoncliff station. Car parks are nearby, one on the other side of the aqueduct, and one at the bottom of the hill from Westwood. Do not attempt to drive to the front of the pub!. Easy one-and-a-half mile walk along the canal from Bradford-on-Avon. Children and dogs welcome.
Historic Interest
One of the oldest buildings in Avoncliff, the twin-gabled central section of The Cross Guns is believed to date back to the 1490’s - with the construction of the East wing in the early 1600’s, this Tudor residence became an Inn known as The Carpenter’s Arms which provided respite for travellers and drovers using the ford across the river at Avoncliff. It was later used by quarrymen, millworkers and travellers. The rural serenity of Avoncliff was disturbed from 1794, when the 9th (Bradford on Avon) Battalion of the Wiltshire Rifle Volunteers was formed and a rifle range established alongside the canal. It was shortly after this that The Carpenter’s Arms was renamed The Cross Guns.
This Pub serves 1 changing beer and 1 regular beer.
Cross Guns, Avoncliff