Eat and drink
The Killingworth Castle, Wootton
A serious dining pub with eight rooms at Wootton near Woodstock, with 3 AA Rosettes and a Michelin Guide recommendation for 2026, à la carte and tasting menus, and open from Wednesday to Sunday.
Dog-friendly · EV charging
At the southern edge of our patch, and the one to travel for if you want a special meal: three AA Rosettes and a tasting menu in a village pub. Rooms start at £169 and breakfast costs extra now. It closes on Mondays and Tuesdays, and under-16s cannot stay overnight.
- Good: 3 AA Rosettes and Michelin Guide recommended, both 2026
- Good: 17th in the Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Pubs 2025
- Good: Eight en suite rooms, two of them dog-friendly
- Good: Large car park with EV charging
- Worth knowing: Open only from Wednesday to Sunday
- Worth knowing: Rooms from £169 are room only, and no under-16s overnight
About
The Killingworth Castle is on Glympton Road in Wootton, just north of Woodstock. It is about 12 miles south of Banbury Cross, by our measure between postcodes. Its site lists 3 AA Rosettes and a Michelin Guide recommendation for 2026, and a place in the Top 50 Gastropubs for 2026. The Good Food Guide ranked it 17th in its first 100 Best Pubs list, in 2025.
Menus include an à la carte, a tasting menu, a Sunday service, breakfast and a bar menu, with festive versions in season. We could not read the dishes or prices, as they are held in separate menu pages.
There are eight en suite rooms, from £169 on weekdays and £205 at weekends for rooms 1 and 2, to £235 and £249 for room 8. The rates are room only, with breakfast sold separately in the pub from 8am to 10am. Check-in is from 3pm, with check-out by 11am. Rooms 3 and 4 take dogs.
Children under 16 may not stay overnight, but are welcome in the bar and restaurant. The large car park has EV charging, and Blenheim Palace is a short drive south. It is within reach of Great Tew for a day out.
Opening hours and season
Open Wednesday to Sunday from 8am, the pub says, with no closing time given. Breakfast from 8am to 10am.
The details
- Food
- Modern British · Fine dining
- Serving
- Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner · Sunday lunch
- Booking a table
- Booking recommended
- Rooms
- 8
- Check-in
- From 3pm
- Check-out
- By 11am
- Features
- Bar · Restaurant · Parking · Dogs in rooms · Private dining
- Awards
- 3 AA Rosettes, 2026
- Michelin Guide recommended, 2026
- Top 50 Gastropubs, 2026
- Good Food Guide 100 Best Pubs 2025, 17th
- Parking
- A large car park with electric vehicle charging.
Photos
A course from the tasting menu 
A bedroom 
Another of the rooms 
A dog in the bar
Location
Places to stay nearby
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The Killingworth Castle, Wootton
Restaurants
A serious dining pub with eight rooms at Wootton near Woodstock, with 3 AA Rosettes and a Michelin Guide recommendation for 2026, à la carte and tasting menus, and open from Wednesday to Sunday.
Dog-friendly · EV charging
Verified Nov 2026
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The Holt Hotel, Steeple Aston
Hotel · Steeple Aston
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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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
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- The Holt Hotel, Steeple Aston 5.5 km away
Sights nearby
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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.