Writing in The Sunday Times, Clarkson confirmed he had secured the site for ‘less than £1m’ and planned to renovate and relaunch it later this year under a new name.
It follows a long-running saga that saw the broadcaster blocked from opening a restaurant on his Diddly Squat farm, made famous by the Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm, by West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC).
Discussing his decision to open a pub, Clarkson said: “I had failed to get planning permission to turn a barn on my farm into a restaurant, but I still wanted somewhere where I could sell all that we make here. And my own beer in the taps too.”
Clarkson said he plans to inject a sense of ‘fun’ into his pub, which will have bar billiards, dominoes and darts.
The food will be inspired by 1970s Yorkshire and include ‘shepherd’s pie, and egg and chips’.
Clarkson originally tried to get planning permission for a Diddly Squat farm restaurant back in 2022, but the initial proposals were thrown out by WODC. However, Clarkson proceeded with the project anyway, saying he had ‘found a loophole’ in the regulations.
The restaurant launched in July of that year with chef Pip Lacey leading the kitchen, but was soon ordered to shut after the WODC issued an enforcement notice saying the opening of the restaurant represented a ‘material change of use’.
A subsequent bid to reopen the restaurant also failed.
The 40-cover Diddly Squat farm restaurant was housed within a small barn in the middle of a barley field, with the majority of its tables outside. The menu focused on beef from shorthorn cattle and included sticky beef croquettes with aioli and pickled chilli; and roasted topside of beef with vegetable.
