THE BARGE INN Public House.

This Pubic House situated on the banks of the Avon Kennett Canal, is set within the small Hamlet of Honey Street which merges with the village of Alton Barnes. Follow the road out of Alton Barnes south, you will then come to Hump Back Bridge. The sign for The Barge is on your right, and is about a 100 yards down a small lane. There is a large Car Park, but it can become full at the height of summer.

The Barge has become the official site for the discerning Crop Circle Investigator. Everyone who is everyone congregates at The Barge to socialize and swap tales on their experiences in the fields. If you are a new traveller to England for the Crop Circles, this is the place to visit for up to date information on what's happening, and will give you the chance to meet some of the influential individuals within the Crop Circle Community. Sometimes live music is available at The Barge, and there is ample seating outside at the front of the pub, but one thing you can be sure of at the Barge, is fun times!!

The public House has a special room at the rear dedicated to crop circle research, with two walls filled with diagrams and maps on where to find them, and a representation of the patterns themselves. The Gardens on the side of the canal have seats where you can enjoy an evening meal watching the Barges travel up and down, as you watch the sun go down over the Alton Barnes landscape.

A campsite is available within a small field at the back of the Barge, and is only a couple of pound a night for medium size tents. It can become very busy at the height of summer, so please pitch early to avoid disappointment. Toilets and a shower facility can be found in the out buildings at the side of the Pub.


The Barge Inn has a long and colourful history, built in 1810 to coincide with the opening of the Kennet and Avon Canal, it prospered alongside a waterway then busy with both commercial and passenger traffic. Known in its heyday as the George, the establishment contained a slaughter house, coach house and stabling for four horses, as well as a brew house, hop store, bake house, smoke house and cart shed. The north section of the ground floor included a grocery and general stores, as between 1871 and 1957 a number of licensees also acted as local grocers. Sadly, fire broke out on the 14th December, 1858 largely destroying the original building and preceding what the Devizes & Wiltshire Gazette referred to as a "disgraceful scene. Soon after the fire was extinguished ...... the cellars were entered.... And there was nothing but drunkenness and confusion."

However, due to its importance, the Barge Inn was rebuilt in just six months, an event commemorated by a plaque at the north gable end. The Inn, which now had no fewer than 24 rooms within the main building and 15 fireplaces including those in the bake house and barns, flourished along with other services at Honeystreet such as the sawmills, builders wharf and coal stores.
The canal became more neglected with the arrival of the railways, but this did not prevent the Barge Inn from being sold by auction on Wednesday April 7th, 1897 ("at three o'clock punctually"), to T&J Usher of Bristol, for the then considerable sum of £2,100. Today, a hundred years later, the wheel of history has turned full circle: the present owners, re-acquiring the Barge Inn in 1992, are the well known Ushers of Trowbridge.

This transaction was marginally preceded by the mysterious appearance of crop circles in the vicinity, causing many students of these phenomena to swell the ranks of customers who include cyclists, walkers, canoeists, narrow boat enthusiasts and occasionally musicians. Amongst these people are many who take advantage of the leafy camping and caravan sites to the south west of the main buildings, and who enjoy the clear sight, beyond the canal, of the White Horse of Alton Barnes, commenced at about the same time as the original building and completed after the first of the foremen had - so it is said - absconded with his advance and later been hanged for sheep stealing.

The Barge Inn,
Honeystreet,
Pewsey,
Wiltshire.
SN9 5PS

Telephone: 01672 851705

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE CORE OF CORN CIRCLE ACTIVITY?

Adrain & June welcome you to their historic canal side pub. Enjoy a relaxed and friendly drink whilst getting the latest in up-to-date crop circle news.

* GOOD PUB GRUB WITH A WIDE RANGE OF VEGETARIAN FOOD

* CARAVAN AND CAMPING SITE WITH ACCOMPANYING SHOWERS

* 'CROPPIES' MEETING ROOM AND NOTICE BOARD

* FAMILY ROOM WITH TV AND PUB GARDEN

* GOOD PARKING FACILITIES

Mixing In The Right Circles!

ALTERNATIVE CAMPSITES


The Virtual Barge is open Now!
The only crop circle pub on the Net......

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Mark Fussell & Stuart Dike

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