Always on
This project successfully funded on 1st May 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
The Bell Inn Community Pub, Curry Mallet, Somerset
Taunton, Somerset, United Kingdom
Aim
To re-open The Bell Inn as a thriving, vibrant and inclusive community-owned pub and social hub, involving as many local people as possible.
You can ring our Bell…
What’s in it for us?
We get to have The Bell Inn pub back as our lovely and vibrant beating heart.
With over £110k already raised in just 3 months with our Share Offer, we now have 107 members of our Community Benefit Society. We are well on our way to our Phase 1 target but now need to launch Phase 2 of our project, which will enable us to buy the freehold and re-open and re-fresh the Pub.
What’s in it for you?
You’ll be welcomed as a friend into the Curry & Beer 'massive', where you’ll have helped save a special little corner of England. Our 'Donations Wall' will list the name of every donor, so if you are ever nearby and can find your name on the wall, then your first drink will be on the house!
Our history
Things can take time in these parts: Here since the Romans, notably, in the Domesday Book of 1086 (a little bit like the TripAdvisor of its day), and most significantly listed in The Magna Carta in 1215, (Michelin, eat your heart out), it still took about 1800 years to get a decent pub, one of Somerset’s finest little locals… The Bell Inn.
About The Bell Inn and our community
For over 200 years The Bell Public House has been the social hub of Curry Mallet and Beercrocombe, twin parishes soaked in a cocktail of history, legends and silage.
Nestled in a quintessential Somerset landscape in the parliamentary constituency of Glastonbury & Somerton, we didn’t get much say in our story. Instead, it has been often shaped by the visits of kings, queens, princes and barons, from William the Conqueror to the current King, Charles III. We celebrated his coronation at The Bell Inn in 2023. (Any excuse for a drink here!) However, unlike much of the property across the villages, the pub has never been owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Its existence has always relied on the local community it supported so well.
In living memory, The Bell Inn would have played host to British RAF pilots and US troops preparing for D-Day before departure from nearby Merryfield airfield. Never forget that for some poor souls, it could have been their last chance to socialise and relax before what lay ahead.
The legendary artist, gardener, gay-rights campaigner and film-maker, Derek Jarman, lived as a child in the neighbouring Manor House, considered his home ‘an image of an idyllic England’, and The Bell Inn was the literal backdrop to the garden that made such a huge impression on him. There’s no evidence that the young Derek Jarman ever tried to secure a sneaky underage Cherry-Brandy for himself, but he wouldn’t have been the last bright young thing to try…
Foremost though, The Bell Inn has always been a community pub. Somewhere people from all backgrounds could come together to drink, laugh, discuss the weather, fret about the harvest, moan about the state of the world, share their hopes, plan their futures, fall in love, celebrate, commiserate, chew the cud, or just relax. Curry Mallet is reputed to be home to several ghosts. If The Bell’s landlady of 1861, Fanny Vile, is one of them, we are pretty sure she would approve of our plans to re-open her pub.
This is not just about a pub: it is about maintaining the community and improving services in our villages and investing in their future. By opening the space for workshops, local groups, and community events, this community-run enterprise will support everyone in our local environment, both now and for future generations. Profits will be ploughed back into our communities for the benefit of everyone.
Our vision
- To save and improve The Bell Inn and safeguard it as a community asset as a pub and hub.
- To contribute to a strong sense of community by giving local people the means of shaping and developing the business.
- To support local employment and producers and to strengthen the local economy.
- To have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of the community and reduce social isolation.
- To provide a warm safe space and welcoming environment for all members of our community, helping to build networks of friends and contacts.
- To reduce car use and the need to travel longer distances for the same services.
- To support local community groups by distribution of profits.
- To welcome visitors from near and far.
The Bell Inn will be attractive, comfortable and welcoming. It will be an environment that you will want to visit and spend time in; drinking, eating and socialising, reliable in every aspect of its service and offering, with a strong and distinct identity. It will become a destination for walkers, cyclists (cycle route 33 passes our doorstep), and motorists (10 mins from J25 on the M5), groups and individuals, locals and visitors, friends and neighbours. A visit to The Bell Inn will make the glass half full every time.
Rather buy a share in the pub?
Join the growing band of members of our Community Benefit Society. Buying a share gives you a say in how we develop our project. Head over to our website for details of our Share Offer and to purchase shares online. www.cmbcommunitypub.com
Keep in touch
Follow our exciting journey so far by signing up to our newsletters on our website www.cmbcommunitypub.com or follow us on our social media on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made