The Southbrook Inn

The Southbrook Inn, commonly called The Southbrook or simply The Brook, is a pub in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It sits on Southbrook Street and presents itself as a community-focused local, welcoming guests with the line "in the heart of the community." The pub is owned and run by Arkell's Brewery, Swindon's oldest company and one of Britain's oldest traditional breweries still operating. According to the pub's own account, Arkell's is only the third owner of The Southbrook since the building was converted from a farmhouse into a pub during the mid-20th century. The Southbrook serves the complete selection of Arkell's beers and ales, alongside wines, lagers, shorts and soft drinks. Food is a central part of its identity, with Sunday roasts the headline offering; the pub describes its Sunday lunch as the reason customers keep coming back. It also offers a function room for gatherings, a garden, a skittle alley, and shows SKY Sports in the bar and on a big screen. The pub has been run by hosts Alun and Julie Rossiter, who are presented on the website as the welcoming faces behind the bar. As a tied house of Arkell's Brewery, The Southbrook reflects the brewery's family-values ethos. Its opening hours cover afternoons and evenings through the week, with longer weekend hours and Sunday lunch service. The pub's website also documents the Covid-19 safety rules it adopted during the pandemic, including seated-only service, waitress service inside, restricted children's hours and a one-way entry and exit route. The Southbrook is a small, locally significant hospitality business rather than a national brand. Its identity is bound up with its Swindon location, its Arkell's ownership and its role as a neighbourhood pub offering drinks, pub food, sport and private-hire space.

The Southbrook Inn is a pub on Southbrook Street in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. Its own account states that the building was converted from a farmhouse into a pub some time during the mid-20th century. Since that conversion, the pub has had only three owners, with Arkell's Brewery being the third. Arkell's Brewery, founded in 1843, is described by the pub as Swindon's oldest company and one of the oldest traditional breweries still operating in Britain. The brewery's ownership places The Southbrook within a long-established local brewing tradition and gives the pub access to the complete range of Arkell's award-winning beers and ales. Under Arkell's ownership, The Southbrook has operated as a community pub. Its website presents it as being "in the heart of the community," with hosts Alun and Julie Rossiter welcoming guests. The pub has developed a food-led identity centred on Sunday roasts, served on Sundays from 12:00 to 2:30pm, while the bar operates across the week with varying hours. Beyond drinks and food, the pub offers a function room for gatherings, a garden, a skittle alley and SKY Sports screenings in the bar and on a big screen. During the Covid-19 pandemic, The Southbrook published a set of ten rules on its website to comply with government guidelines. These included collecting names and contact details on entry, requiring everyone to be seated inside, banning standing at the bar, providing waitress service inside, limiting children to before 7pm, closing play areas, restricting dogs to the garden, directing entry through the function room door and exit through the bar door, asking customers not to move furniture, and urging social distancing. The pub framed these measures as new and difficult for both staff and customers and warned that anyone not adhering to the rules would be asked to leave. The pub's website also advertises a Christmas party menu and table bookings by phone or email. As of the site's copyright notice, dated 2020, The Southbrook continued to operate under Arkell's ownership with Alun and Julie Rossiter as hosts. The pub remains a small, locally focused hospitality business rather than a multi-site brand.

• 2020

  Pub website publishes Covid-19 safety rules during the pandemic.

• 1843

  Arkell's Brewery founded in Swindon.

• The Southbrook building converted from a farmhouse into a pub during the mid-20th century.

• Arkell's Brewery becomes the third owner of The Southbrook.

A community-focused tied pub offering Arkell's ales, pub food, sport and function space in Swindon.

• Arkell's real ales and beers

• Wines, lagers, spirits and soft drinks

• Sunday roasts

• Function room hire

• Skittle alley

• SKY Sports screenings

1. 1The Southbrook, Swindon | Function-Room/Sunday-Lunch/SKY-Sportsthesouthbrook.co.uk
2. 2The Southbrook, Swindon Pub-Food/Function-Room/Sunday-Lunch/SKY-Sportsthesouthbrook.co.uk
3. 3The Southbrook Innwikidata.org