World famous ‘croppie HQ’ The Barge Inn is back on the market

Honeystreet’s Barge Inn – the canal side pub taken over by its local community before closing due to insolvency – is on the market again.

Property investment company Portella Estates this week began the process of marketing of what it describes as the “world-famous canal side pub, campsite and popular meeting place for crop circle enthusiasts,” with a leasehold of £60,000 and annual rent of £48,000 per annum, with a beer and cider tie.

The price doesn’t include the one-acre campsite, which is available by separate negotiation, but the new leaseholders will get a dining room with 30 covers and a new dining extension which seats 26, a main bar, and the famous ‘crop circle room’ with its distinctive mural-decorated ceiling.

Living accommodation includes six bedrooms and a bathroom, and the attic winch room – according to the particulars – has potential for development.

A 10-year lease or three-five year tenancy options are available. The annual turnover is listed at £450,000.

The 200-year-old pub was run for 17 years by Adrian and June Potts, and when they retired in 2010 locals took over the pub to run as a community venture on a 20-year lease, helped by a £340,000 grant from the National Lottery’s Village SOS fund.

But by 2012 The Barge Inn Community Project were forced to call in the administrators. Marlborough News Online reported in February 2013 that the company’s debts ran to almost half a million pounds.

More recently – in December 2012 – the tenancy was taken over by Derren Heath and Amanda Swindell, who signed a five-year tenancy agreement.

Meanwhile, the pub continues to trade as normal, with Portella Estates keen to stress that it is a viable business proposition