The very model of an olde worlde inn, with its flagstones, beams, blazing fires and jumbled interiors, The Lamb sits on the edge of a picture-perfect Cotswolds wool town, in the aptly named Sheep Street.

With a free jukebox, Art Deco piano, loyalty cards and children’s menus, this dog-friendly 18th-century inn is truly a community hub.

On the outside, it looks like a chocolate box stone thatched pub, but that belies the funky interior of this Cotswold outpost of Justin and Charlotte Salisbury’s portfolio of Artist Residence properties in Brighton and London (see main entries) and Penzance (see Shortlist entry).

Recently refreshed, this ‘delightful, friendly’ 17th-century coaching inn retains its authentic country air.

In a historic wool town, the classic Cotswold-stone exterior of this ‘likeable’ 17th-century inn gives way to a cool, contemporary decor that mixes wooden beams and ancient floorboards with Scandi-chic furnishings, a fine cocktail list and a family-friendly feel.

Embracing its rural roots, this traditional inn cosies up deep in the Cotswold countryside.

You may feel a sense of déjà vu at Tom and Jack Nicholas’s timber-frame coaching inn: it starred as the Babberton Arms in Harry Potter films, while the picturesque streetscape has stood in for Cranford in the BBC drama.

A brook runs through the village green in front of Nicola and Archie Orr- Ewing’s Cotswold-stone inn. Inside: hefty beams, high-backed settles, horse brasses and all the trappings of an ancient country pub, plus Giles Lee’s emphatically modern cooking. Characteristic dishes: fillet of sea trout, crisp gnocchi, pickled shallots; wild garlic leaf, pea and spinach risotto. Cottage-style bedrooms are above the inn and around a quiet courtyard.

George Dailey’s honey-stone roadside inn, north of Oxford, is a popular village hub where locals come for the ‘excellent’ cooking – and where farther-flung guests settle in for ‘a very nice stay’.

The hub of a pretty Cotswolds village, this mellow-stone pub-with-rooms (Calcot Collection) is liked for its stylish accommodation and relaxed nature.

You can mess about in boats with a fishing rod, sip a pint of bitter in the sunshine or enjoy classic gastropub fare at this cheerful pub-with-rooms beside the Thames, with moorings that are free to guests.