We checked 16 Dorset pubs, from the Square and Compass to CAMRA winner the Tiger Inn, for opening hours, beer and hygiene ratings. Updated November 2026.
This guide puts 16 Dorset pubs in one place for 2026, with opening hours, beer, dog rules and hygiene ratings, and they include the four most people look for: the Square and Compass at Worth Matravers, the Tiger Inn in Bridport, the Bankes Arms at Studland and the Acorn Inn at Evershot. Below are those four and twelve more.
Winter hours start in November at several of these pubs, so check before you set off. This guide covers the Dorset Council area; Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are not included.
Purbeck
1. Square and Compass, Worth Matravers
The pub’s history page says the building became an alehouse around 1776, and that Charlie and Florence Newman took the tenancy in March 1907; the family has run it ever since. In 2017 CAMRA named it as one of five pubs to have appeared in every edition of its Good Beer Guide, and East Dorset CAMRA made it its rural Pub of the Season for summer 2026.
The pub says plainly that it has “no restaurant”: it serves only homemade pies and pasties, including gluten-free ones, alongside its own cider. It has a small fossil museum and regular live music; a Sausage and Cider Festival is on Saturday 7 November.
Open daily from 12pm
Food homemade pies and pasties only, including gluten-free; no restaurant
Address Worth Matravers, BH19 3LF
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 3 October 2025
Website squareandcompasspub.co.uk
Good for own cider, fossil museum, live music, gluten-free pies
2. Bankes Arms, Studland
The Bankes Arms says it “could almost set the blueprint for every other traditional country pub”, and it looks out over Studland Bay. The Isle of Purbeck Brewery has brewed beside the pub since 2003, and its five core beers are served on draught.
It says it is dog friendly. From the Poole side, note that the Sandbanks chain ferry is away for its refit from 2 November.
Open winter hours (1 November to 31 May) 11am to 10pm daily; closed Christmas Day
Food winter, Mon to Fri 12pm to 3pm and 6pm to 9pm; Sat and Sun 12pm to 9pm
Booking no table bookings for food, first come, first served; large groups asked to ring ahead
Address Manor Road, Studland, BH19 3AU
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 13 May 2026
Website bankesarms.com
Good for Isle of Purbeck Brewery beers, dogs welcome, Studland Bay views
3. The Scott Arms, Kingston
The Scott Arms calls itself a traditional country pub with “history, character, community and atmosphere”, and says its garden gives “one of the best views in Dorset across to Corfe Castle”. Sunday roasts run from late September until April, and the outdoor Burger Shak is shut until Easter 2027.
The pub says “all well behaved pooches are welcome”, with bowls and treats in every bar.
Open Mon to Sat 11am to 9pm; Sun 12pm to 9pm
Food Mon to Sat 12pm to 2.30pm and 5pm to 8pm; Sun roast at lunchtime, normal menu 5pm to 8pm
Address West Street, Kingston, BH20 5LH
Hygiene rating 3, Food Standards Agency, generally satisfactory (FSA, 22 April 2026
Website thescottarms.com
Good for garden views to Corfe Castle, dogs welcome, Sunday roast
4. The Greyhound Inn, Corfe Castle
The Greyhound stands in the village square below the castle ruins and claims “arguably the best view” of them, from a garden with its own terrace bar. Its cask ales come from the Dorset Brewing Company and Ringwood, and its cider from the Purbeck Cider Company, and it makes its own gin infusions.
There are Sunday and Christmas menus.
Open daily 12pm to 10pm; the pub asks you to ring to confirm
Food kitchen times vary; ring to confirm
Booking online
Address The Square, Corfe Castle, BH20 5EZ
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 23 January 2025
Website greyhoundcorfe.co.uk
Good for castle views, garden with terrace bar, local cask ales, own gin infusions
Bridport and the West Dorset coast
5. The Tiger Inn, Bridport
West Dorset CAMRA named the Tiger its Pub of the Year for 2026, a year after it was runner-up. The Tiger Inn calls itself a “traditional grade 2 listed 18th Century Inn” and a family-run free house, with two bars, two courtyard gardens and a vintage alley bar.
CAMRA’s listing counts six changing real ales, mostly from the region, and points out a rare etched Groves Brewery window. The pub serves no food apart from breakfast for guests in its seven rooms.
CAMRA lists it as dog friendly, but pets are not allowed in the bedrooms. It has no car park; the pub suggests the long-stay council car park in East Street.
Open Mon to Sat 12pm to 11pm; Sun 12pm to 9pm
Food none, apart from breakfast for staying guests
Address 14-16 Barrack Street, Bridport, DT6 3LY
Website tigerinnbridport.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for six changing real ales, two courtyard gardens, rooms upstairs, dogs welcome, Grade II listed
6. The Woodman, Bridport
The Woodman calls itself “fiercely independent” and serves cask ale, craft beer and what it calls “award-winning ciders”. CAMRA members voted it the 2024 Wessex Regional Pub of the Year and the 2024 Regional Cider Pub of the Year, according to its CAMRA listing.
The same listing describes a one-bar room with a stone floor and a log burner, and one handpump kept for stouts and porters. There is a garden and a skittle alley, and folk nights, storytelling and DJs feature in its programme.
Open Mon to Thu 12pm to 11pm; Fri 12pm to midnight; Sat 11am to midnight; Sun 12pm to 9pm
Address 61 South Street, Bridport, DT6 3NZ
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 22 July 2025
Website thewoodman.pub
Listing Our listing
Good for cider, log burner, garden, skittle alley, folk nights
7. The Anchor Inn, Seatown
The Anchor sits at the foot of Golden Cap, a few steps from the beach at Seatown, and quotes the Telegraph calling it “a destination gastropub serving elevated British classics”. There is a children’s menu and highchairs.
The Golden Cap walk starts nearby.
Open daily 12pm to 10pm; all year except Christmas Day
Food 12pm to 8pm
Price winter mains £17 to £27; battered haddock and chips £21
Booking inside tables through OpenTable, 30 September to 31 May; first come, first served in summer
Address Seatown, near Chideock, DT6 6JU
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 22 September 2025
Website theanchorinnseatown.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for beach, children's menu, highchairs, card only
Dorchester and the villages
8. The Thimble Inn, Piddlehinton
West Dorset CAMRA made the Thimble its Beer Drinkers’ Pub of the Year for 2025, an award decided by members’ scores for cask beer quality. The Thimble Inn describes “low ceiling, original features, crackling fires” beside the River Piddle, and pours Palmers ales and Fordington gin.
It says it is at “the beginning of an exciting new chapter”. Dogs are welcome in the bar and gardens.
Open Mon 12pm to 5pm; Tue to Thu 12pm to 10pm; Fri and Sat 12pm to 11pm; Sun 12pm to 5pm
Booking online or by phone
Call 01300 348270
Address 14 High Street, Piddlehinton, DT2 7TD
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 13 March 2026
Website thimbleinn.co.uk
Good for Palmers ales, real fires, riverside gardens, dogs welcome
9. The Royal Oak, Cerne Abbas
The Royal Oak calls itself an “independently owned 16th century thatched freehouse” built in the 1540s, and it is a Grade II listed building. CAMRA notes three connected rooms with real fires and flagstone floors, a patio at the back, and usually at least one beer from the Cerne Abbas Brewery.
It says “we are dog friendly”.
Open closed Mon and Tue; Wed to Fri 12pm to 3.30pm and from 6pm; Sat from 12pm; Sun 12pm to 7pm
Food Wed to Sat 12pm to 2.30pm and 6pm to 8.30pm; Sunday lunch 12pm to 2.30pm
Address 23 Long Street, Cerne Abbas, DT2 7JG
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 12 December 2024
Website theroyaloakcerneabbas.co.uk
Good for thatched, Grade II listed, real fires, patio, dogs welcome
10. The Acorn Inn, Evershot
The Acorn Inn is a 16th-century coaching inn that, it says, features in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, with “old beams, oak panelling and roaring fires”. It won Gold for Pub of the Year at the South West Tourism Awards 2023/24.
The restaurant and bar has a children’s menu. Dogs get water bowls and biscuits at the bar, and can stay for £15 a night.
Open bar Mon and Tue 3pm to 10.30pm; Wed, Thu and Sun 12pm to 10.30pm; Fri and Sat 12pm to 11pm
Food restaurant Wed to Sun 12pm to 1.45pm and 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Address 28 Fore Street, Evershot, DT2 0JW
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 16 January 2025
Website acorn-inn.co.uk
Good for roaring fires, children's menu, dogs welcome, dogs can stay
Weymouth and the coast
11. The Boot Inn, Weymouth
The Boot claims to be Weymouth’s oldest pub, on the grounds that Melcombe Regis, across the harbour, was a separate parish until 1920, CAMRA explains. The building is Grade II listed and dates from the early 17th century.
CAMRA lists its interior as of special national historic interest: much of it comes from a 1930s refit, and a Victorian water tap survives on one counter. The pub told us it still runs its ale deals: a £2.70 pint all day on Mondays, and three pints for £10 on Thursdays from 5pm.
CAMRA lists it as dog friendly, with real fires in winter and a public car park next door. The pub’s own site is run by its owner, Marston’s, and CAMRA warns it contains mistakes.
Corrected 30 October: the pub opens at 12pm every day, not 11am as CAMRA lists.
Open daily from 12pm; closes 11pm Mon to Thu, midnight Fri and Sat, 10.30pm Sun
Price real ale £2.70 a pint all day Monday; 3 pints of ale for £10 Thursday from 5pm
Address High West Street, Weymouth, DT4 8JH
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 8 July 2025
Website bootinnweymouth.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for Grade II listed, historic interior, £2.70 ale Mondays, 3 for £10 Thursdays, real fires in winter, dogs welcome, car park next door
12. The Smugglers Inn, Osmington Mills
A thatched Hall and Woodhouse pub on the clifftop east of Weymouth, which describes itself as “once the headquarters for 17th Century smugglers”, with views to the Isle of Portland and Badger beers on tap. CAMRA lists it as cashless and dog friendly, and warns of a very steep approach from the car park.
Open daily from 8.30am; to 10pm Mon to Thu; to 10.30pm Fri and Sat; to 9pm Sun
Food from breakfast to 8.30pm Mon to Thu; to 9pm Fri and Sat; to 7.30pm Sun
Price weekday set menu £19.95 for two courses, Mon to Thu
Address Osmington Mills, DT3 6HF
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 18 May 2026
Website smugglersinnosmingtonmills.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for thatched, Portland views, Badger beers, breakfast, dogs welcome, card only
Sherborne, Shaftesbury, Blandford and Wimborne
13. The Digby Tap, Sherborne
The Digby Tap is a free house that says it was included in the Telegraph’s guide to the 500 best pubs in England in July 2025. It says the Good Beer Guide and the Good Pub Guide have both featured it.
Four handpumps are always on: one session ale, from Cerne Abbas, Otter or Teignworthy, and three guests. The oldest part of the building is thought to date from between 1550 and about 1700, and it served as the parish workhouse from 1749.
Open Mon to Sat 11am to 11pm; Sun 12pm to 11pm
Food home-cooked, lunchtime Mon to Sat
Booking by phone only; not by email or Facebook
Call 01935 813148
Address Cooks Lane, Sherborne, DT9 3NS
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 12 March 2026
Website digbytap.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for four handpumps, real ale, free house, home-cooked lunches
14. Ye Olde Two Brewers, Shaftesbury
Ye Olde Two Brewers is an 18th-century pub at the foot of Gold Hill and calls itself “a real hidden gem”. CAMRA’s listing says the pub takes its name from its first landlords, two brothers who brewed their own beer and sold it at festivals.
It also notes that Gold Hill was the setting for the Hovis advert. The pub says it is family friendly and dog friendly and serves locally sourced daily specials.
There is a skittle alley and a garden with views.
Open closed Mon except bank holidays; Tue to Sat 12pm to 9.30pm; Sun 12pm to 6pm
Booking online
Address 24 St James Street, Shaftesbury, SP7 8HE
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 18 February 2026
Website 2brewers.co.uk
Good for family friendly, dogs welcome, skittle alley, garden with views, daily specials
15. The Stour Inn, Blandford St Mary
East Dorset CAMRA chose the Stour Inn as its rural Pub of the Season for spring 2026. It has no website.
CAMRA’s listing describes a Grade II listed free house with five changing ales from independent breweries, an open fire, monthly quizzes and live music. It adds that pub sources put it at 400 to 450 years old, while the listing dates it to the late 18th or early 19th century.
It is dog friendly, and there is a single step at the door.
Open Mon to Thu 3pm to 10.30pm; Fri and Sat 12pm to 11pm; Sun 12pm to 10pm
Food Wed and Thu evenings; Fri to Sun lunchtimes; Fri and Sat evenings
Call 01258 268188
Address 5 Blandford St Mary, DT11 9LH
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 7 May 2025
Good for five changing ales, open fire, monthly quizzes, live music, dogs welcome, Grade II listed
16. The Vine Inn, Pamphill, near Wimborne
The Vine is a National Trust-owned country pub a mile west of Wimborne Minster, run by the same family for over a century, according to its CAMRA listing. CAMRA rates its interior three stars, “of outstanding national historic importance”.
The public bar, about eight feet square, is one of the smallest in the country. There are two changing cask ales and Purbeck cider.
It has no website, and its hours are short. It is dog friendly, and the access is sloping, with steps.
Open Mon 6pm to 9pm; Tue, Thu, Fri and Sat 12pm to 3pm and 6pm to 9pm; Wed 12pm to 3pm; Sun 12pm to 4pm and 6pm to 9pm
Food ploughman's lunches and toasties, lunchtime only
Call 01202 882259
Address Vine Hill, Pamphill, BH21 4EE
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 8 October 2024
Good for historic interior, National Trust-owned, Purbeck cider, dogs welcome, cash only
How we chose
We began with the pubs Dorset’s two CAMRA branches have named in their recent awards: Pub of the Year, Pub of the Season and the Beer Drinkers’ award. We then added pubs with a long public record: historic interiors on CAMRA’s national inventory, listed buildings, tourism awards and national guides. Nothing with a food hygiene rating below 3 is included. Prices are the pubs’ own published prices and can change. Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@dorsetpost.co.uk.
For more, see the best restaurants in Dorset, things to do in Dorset, what’s on in Dorset this month and Dorset’s dog-friendly beaches. Every pub in our directory is in the local business directory, and the latest inspection results are in our Dorset food hygiene ratings round-up.
Frequently asked questions
Which Dorset pubs have won CAMRA awards recently?
West Dorset CAMRA named the Tiger Inn in Bridport its Pub of the Year for 2026. The Thimble Inn at Piddlehinton was the branch’s Beer Drinkers’ Pub of the Year for 2025, and the Woodman in Bridport was the 2024 Wessex Regional Pub of the Year. East Dorset CAMRA chose the Stour Inn at Blandford St Mary as its rural Pub of the Season for spring 2026, and the Square and Compass at Worth Matravers for summer 2026.
Which Dorset pubs allow dogs?
The Bankes Arms, the Scott Arms, the Thimble Inn, the Royal Oak at Cerne Abbas and Ye Olde Two Brewers all say on their own sites that they are dog friendly. The Acorn Inn puts water bowls and biscuits by the bar, and dogs can stay for £15 a night. CAMRA lists the Tiger Inn, the Boot Inn, the Stour Inn, the Smugglers Inn and the Vine Inn as dog friendly too.
Which Dorset pubs do not serve food?
The Tiger Inn in Bridport serves no food apart from breakfast for guests staying in its rooms. The Square and Compass has no restaurant and serves only its own pies and pasties. The Vine Inn at Pamphill does ploughman’s lunches and toasties at lunchtime only, and it takes cash only.
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