Travel / Travel
Bruton’s popular church-conversion restaurant sold to new owners
One of Somerset’s best-loved foodie hubs, At the Chapel in Bruton, has been sold beginning a new chapter for the converted place of worship which combines restaurant, artisan bakery, takeaway, wine-store and rooms.
Its congregation of committed regulars will be relieved to hear that its new owners, West Country pub and hotel group, Stay Original, plan to respect its provenance and keep it more or less as it is.
At the Chapel is a Grade II listed, town-centre building which incorporates an 18th century congregational chapel. Former owners, Catherine Butler and Ahmed Sidki fell in love with the disused building on a down-from-London weekend in the country in 2001. After buying it, and moving in, they converted the place into a restaurant-cum-bakery in 2008, adding eight heavenly guest rooms five years later.
is needed now More than ever
At the Chapel began as a bakery and restaurant before adding guest rooms
The chapel’s reputation has helped put once-sleepy Bruton on the map as a dining destination, but it’s not just the wood-fired, sourdough pizzas, the biodynamic farm produce or even the custard doughnuts that has turned the place into a buzzy temple of gastronomy and style (popular, incidentally, with writers, artists and musicians).
The building’s transformation is a model example of sensitive church conversion (co-founder, Ahmed Sidki’s background is in design) and combines original Georgian windows, flinty stone-work, old oak, voluminous double-height spaces and the odd bit of stained glass with crisp white décor, contemporary lighting and cool contemporary furnishings (cow-hide rugs, leather chairs, modern votive candles etc).
The building’s transformation is a model example of sensitive church conversion
Following the sale of the property, At the Chapel has become the sixth member of the Stay Original family – joining the Swan at Wedmore and the White Hart in Somerton as part of the Somerset-based group’s small but growing portfolio of inns or restaurants with rooms.
The group’s managing director, Rob Greacen, described its new acquisition as “a ground-breaking and well-loved institution” and an ideal fit for the Stay Original Company.
“We operate to a similar model, reviving beautiful old West country buildings and converting them into vibrant places to eat and stay,’ he says.
At The Chapel’s outdoor terrace offers a relaxed informal dining and drinking experience
“I know what a labour of love it has been for Catherine [Butler]. We’re proud to have At the Chapel become part of our group.”
There will, no doubt, be some subtle changes, but for the time being, it’s business as usual for At the Chapel.
Writer Lesley Gillilan is editor/author of travel blogazine eye-traveller.com – for hotel reviews, destination guides and UK city architecture tours.
All photos: At The Chapel
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