The Blacksmiths Inn, a food-led country pub in the North Yorkshire village of Westow, has been sold to first-time owner-operators Jonathan Cliff and Emma Shaw.
The pub – which is near the market town of Malton, the city of York, Castle Howard and the North York Moors National Park – was voted the Yorkshire Dining Pub of the Year in 2006 by the Good Pub Guide and is listed in the Michelin guide.
It occupies a Grade II-listed, 18th century property that was once a blacksmith’s workshop and smithy and retains a number of period features such as stone-flagged floors, ceiling timbers, sash windows and inglenook fireplaces.
The inn offers a bar, a snug, two dining areas to seat 44 customers, and a three-bedroom owners’ flat on the first floor.
Outside, there is a terraced seating area with picnic benches.
The Leeds office of Colliers Robert Barry sold the freehold off a guide price of £550,000 on behalf of Gary and Sarah Marshall of Black Cat Taverns.
By Angela Frewin