Steve Daniels, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Eat and drink · Upper and Lower Heyford
The Horse and Groom, Caulcott
A tiny family-run free house on the Lower Heyford road at Caulcott, where the landlord, a chef with a fine-dining background, cooks a changing menu known for its sausages. Booking is essential, and it opens Wednesday to Sunday.
A small country free house where the cooking is the point: a chef-landlord, a menu that keeps changing and a name for sausages. It is tiny, so book, which the pub says is essential. Dogs stay in the garden, and it is shut on Mondays and Tuesdays.
- Good: Chef-landlord with over 30 years in kitchens in France, the USA and the UK
- Good: A changing menu and a speciality sausage menu
- Good: Bastille Fest, a weekend of ales, cider, music and barbecue in mid July
- Worth knowing: Booking is essential: it is a small pub
- Worth knowing: No dogs inside, only in the garden
- Worth knowing: Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and on Sunday evenings
About
The Horse and Groom stands on the Lower Heyford road at Caulcott, a hamlet in the parish of Lower Heyford, part of the Heyfords, about four miles west of Bicester by road. It is a tiny free house run by Jerome and Stacey Prigent, and CAMRA named it its local Pub of the Year in 2010, 2016 and 2019.
Jerome does the cooking. He has more than 30 years in kitchens behind him, with a fine-dining background in France, the USA and Britain, and the pub describes his food as honest and generously served. The menu changes often and uses local produce, and the pub is known for its speciality sausage menu. Food is at lunch and from 7pm to 9pm from Wednesday to Saturday, and at Sunday lunch. Booking is essential.
There is a beer garden for summer and a log burner for winter. Dogs are welcome in the garden but not inside. Each July, around Bastille Day, the pub holds Bastille Fest, a weekend of real ales, ciders, live music and barbecue food. Its Christmas menu runs from 2 to 20 December 2026.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Wed 18, 12:00
| Mon | Opening | Food served |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Closed | Closed |
| Tuesday | Closed | Closed |
| Wednesday | 12:00 to 15:00, 18:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 14:00, 19:00 to 21:00 |
| Thursday | 12:00 to 15:00, 18:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 14:00, 19:00 to 21:00 |
| Friday | 12:00 to 15:00, 18:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 14:00, 19:00 to 21:00 |
| Saturday | 12:00 to 15:00, 18:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 14:00, 19:00 to 21:00 |
| Sunday | 12:00 to 15:00 | 12:00 to 14:00 |
Food served: The pub gives food times of noon to 2pm and 7pm to 9pm; on Sundays it closes at 3pm. Christmas menu from 2 to 20 December 2026.
Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Booking is essential.
The details
- Food
- Pub classics
- Serving
- Lunch · Dinner · Sunday lunch
- Booking a table
- Booking required
- Features
- Bar · Real ale · Garden or terrace
- Awards
- Local CAMRA Pub of the Year 2019 (also 2010 and 2016)
Photos
The bar 
Hand pumps on the bar 
Keys and brasses on a beam 
A table laid in the dining room
Location
Places to stay nearby
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Oxfordshire Narrowboats, Lower Heyford
Self-catering · Upper and Lower Heyford
Self-drive narrowboat holidays, short breaks and day boats from Heyford Wharf on the Oxford Canal at Lower Heyford, from mid March to the end of October, for 2 to 12 people, dogs included.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly
Verified Nov 2026
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The Holt Hotel, Steeple Aston
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An independent 87-room hotel in an old coaching inn at the Hopcrofts Holt crossroads on the A4260 near Steeple Aston, with a bar, restaurant, afternoon teas and a Sunday carvery, about 15 minutes' drive from Bicester Village.
Family-friendly · Wedding venues · EV charging
Verified Nov 2026
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Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa
Hotel · Bicester
A 52-room Cotswold-stone hotel in Chesterton, south-west of Bicester, set on its own par-71 golf course, with a spa, gym and outdoor swimming lake for guests who book direct, Grays Restaurant, and dog-friendly rooms.
Dog-friendly · Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- Kizzies Bistro, Lower Heyford 2.3 km away
- Oxfordshire Narrowboats, Lower Heyford 2.3 km away
- The Chequers, Steeple Aston 3.9 km away
- The Holt Hotel, Steeple Aston 4.2 km away
Sights nearby
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RAF Upper Heyford Cold War sites, Heyford Park
Sight · Monument · Upper and Lower Heyford
The Cold War shelters, nuclear bomb store and command centre of RAF Upper Heyford, scheduled in 2006 and seen on guided tours from the airbase's heritage centre at Heyford Park, which opens free three days a week.
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Rousham House and Garden
Sight · Historic building · Upper and Lower Heyford
A house of about 1635 above the Cherwell near the Heyfords, and round it William Kent's landscape garden of 1737 to 1741, still much as he left it. The garden opens every day; no children under 15, no dogs, no tea room.
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St Mary's Church, Kirtlington
Sight · Church · Kirtlington
Kirtlington's Grade II* church, with Norman arches under a Victorian tower that replaced one pulled down in 1770, late medieval paintings of St George and St Christopher, and the chapel of the Dashwoods of Kirtlington Park. Normally open in daylight.