The Richard Onslow is a classic English village Inn on the historic Cranleigh High Street, Surrey. Cranleigh, one of Britain’s largest villages, is to be found in the beautiful Surrey Hills, an area of outstanding natural beauty or National Landscape, as AONB`s are now officially called, 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Guildford town centre on a minor road east of the A281, which links Guildford with Horsham. The Surrey Hills was one of the first landscapes in England to be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Surrey Hills stretch across a quarter of the county of Surrey and include the chalk slopes of the North Downs from Farnham in the west to Oxted in the east and extend south to the deeply wooded Greensand Hills. It is one of 46 nationally protected landscapes in the UK, having equal landscape status and protection to a national park. It is a beautiful area, I knew very little about the Surrey Hills, so I was very pleased to be visiting. The drive over to Cranleigh was simply stunning.

Cranleigh offers a wide range of shops, independent boutiques, cafés and antique shops and a weekly market on Thursdays. Just a five-minute walk from The Richard Onslow is the local Cranleigh Art Centre which hosts local bands, comedians and film shows, as well as national showbusiness stars and personalities.

I love pubs and I love pub culture.

Jodie Whittaker

There is plenty to do in and around the village. I was keen to visit the picturesque village of Shere, which was the location for one of my all-time favourite Christmas films of 2006, The Holiday. Unfortunately, much to my disappointment, Rosehill Cottage which featured in the film, doesn’t exist, its exterior was built from scratch in an empty field on a hillside overlooking the town of Shere. The cottage had been inspired by a real cottage in Holmbury St Mary, Dorking. The exterior shell was pulled down, soon after filming finished!

Peach Pubs is a collection of twenty-two pubs in beautiful towns and villages, mainly in market towns across the heart of England. I had visited the The Bear & Ragged Staff, The Fleece and The Fishes to help celebrate the groups 15th birthday, and their very first pub, The Rose & Crown in 2017! The original Peach Pub, The Rose & Crown opened in 2002, situated right in the centre of Warwick, on the Market Place. In 2025 I visited, The Drummond at Albury and I was very much looking forward to visiting The Richard Onslow.

The PEACH PUBS Aim

Our aim is to make our pubs great places, full of character, great individual places to eat, drink & sleep; a place for local people, businesses, families & tourists to meet and call their own. Every pub is unique, individually designed to suit their town or village, and respecting each pub’s history. The Bigger Peach aims to improve communities, equality in the workplace, and the future sustainability of our world.

I had been invited to visit, The Richard Onslow, a timber-framed building, in the heart of the village. It is an award-winning, dog friendly gastropub with a welcoming bar, offering an excellent range of good quality ales on tap and a fine selection of classic wines & popular cocktails. I loved the traditional old bar & snug and later in the evening, my wife and I dined in their elegant restaurant, before staying the night in one of their ten stylish en – suite boutique bedrooms. Our bedroom was decorated with patterned wallpapers and fabrics in a mixture of dark greens, soft browns and dusky pinks. All ten en-suite rooms have very comfortable beds, soft linen, tea and coffee-making facilities, stylish bathrooms, a range of exclusive toiletries, flat-screen TV with Freeview and there is free WiFi throughout. All of the modern facilities you would expect in a 21st century modern pub, but one with plenty of character and history.

Our room also included a statement headboard which helped create a calming elegance to the room. There was a lot of open space in the room, which made it more like an up-market Hotel bedroom rather than a small market pub bedroom. The room was clean, comfortable, and well stocked with very good quality towels, pillows and linen sheets. We were pleased to see that there was plenty of hanging space in the tall cupboard for our clothes and charging points for our phones! There is a small car park behind the pub reserved for hotel guests and there are a number of on-street parking spaces available, outside the front of the pub.

There has been a pub on the site for at least 200 years. It is named after Sir Richard Onslow whose family lived at Knowle House and were celebrated politicians, including Speakers of the House of Commons. The oldest part of the building dates back to the 16th Century and there is an inglenook fireplace, constructed in the 1500s, still in use today! With the arrival of the railway line and station in the 1860s, The Onslow Arms Hotel, as it was then known, offered stabling for horses, a coach house, and carriages to and from Cranleigh’s train station. The pub has had several name changes during its lifetime, it was also called the Six Bells, after the number of bells in the tower of St. Nicolas Church and the ‘Flower-de-Luce’ (Fleur de Lis). In 2009 it became The Richard Onslow, who said to have been an supporter of Oliver Cromwell, who is reputed to have lodged t the Inn. The pub sign depicts the Onslow Coat of Arms, after the King, granted the Onslows an earldom and coat of arms in 1801, despite the fact they had by that time, left the village.

During World War II, Cranleigh was nominated a Nodal Point, a designated strong point that, in the event of a land invasion, would block the use of the roads and help protect London. The centre of the village was reinforced with roadblocks and tank traps, evidence of which can still be seen outside the front of the pub.

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.

Orson Welles

On the day I arrived, a Saturday afternoon in January, the pub was very busy, it is obviously very popular with locals. There was wonderful vibrant atmosphere with lots of people enjoying food, drinking with friends in one of the bars or making the most of the winter sun in the secluded courtyard or seating at the front of the pub. It is always very encouraging to come across a country pub which is thriving within its local community during these very difficult times for the pub & hospitality sector.

After settling into our room and changing we quickly made our way down to the bar for pre-dinner drinks. It was a Saturday evening, and the bar was busy with plenty of locals enjoying a drink with friends or an early evening meal.

Starters:

Devon Crab Cake, Emerald Spinach Sauce, Tomato, Red Onion & Coriander.

Large crab cake served with plenty of red onion & coriander of a rich emerald spinach sauce.

Black Pudding Scotch Egg, Tomato Chutney & Watercress.

Two halves of a scotch egg wrapped in black pudding, sitting on a base of tomato chutney & watercress.

Mains:

8oz Rump Cap – 28 Day Dry – aged Aubry Allen Steak, served with Chips & Watercress.

A perfectly cooked and presented beef rump steak, as requested served with chips, bearnaise sauce, watercress and seasonal greens. A wonderfully rich meaty taste!

Free – range Treacle – glazed Pork Hock, Creamed Leeks & Kale

Large treacle glazed pork hock with beautifully cooked and creamy leeks & kale. This cut of meat was succulent & juicy. Delicious.

Puddings:

Pecan Tart, Orange, Crème Fraîche & Brandy Snap

I loved the pecan pie, the brandy snap and fraîche were the perfect partners!

Mini Chocolate Brownie & your choice of Tea or Coffee to finish.

Breakfast did not disappoint either. It was well worth getting up for!

There was plenty of choice from the continental breakfast bar including warm pastries, freshly squeezed juices, seasonal fruits & local meats & cheeses. Hot food, including a Full English Breakfast, was available to order.

Full English Breakfast – Blythburgh Sausage & Bacon, Mushroom, Clonakilty Black Pudding, Beans, Tomatoes, Free-range Poached Eggs & Toasted Sourdough.

Eggs Benedict – Sourdough, Roast Ham, Free-range Poached Eggs & a separate pot of Hollandaise sauce, as requested.

The food at both dinner and breakfast during our visit was excellent. Care had obviously been taken to source only the best ingredients. The food was well cooked and served by knowledgeable and friendly staff. The pub & restaurant staff had all been very friendly and helpful throughout my stay. The high-quality level of service really does make you feel very special. The staff were efficient and polite, and nothing was too much trouble for them, which was really appreciated. A good night’s sleep & excellent breakfast set up my wife & I perfectly for the day ahead.

The Richard Onslow celebrates an increasingly vibrant British food culture with a clear focus on using seasonal ingredients and sourcing local suppliers wherever possible. All the pub’s meat is British and of the highest quality. Their steaks come from one of Britain’s finest beef herds and are dry-aged for 28-days to increase their flavour. All their chickens are free range Cotswold White, a slow growing suitably raised bird that has a wonderfully succulent flavour. Despite insisting on buying the best quality ingredients the menu prices are affordable and reasonable, considering the high level of service and quality of food. All the food was beautifully cooked, and the table service was excellent with friendly waiting staff.

The Richard Onslow is a very popular pub & restaurant with both locals & visitors from outside the village. Whilst enjoying a drink in the popular bar, I noticed several people coming into the pub, not only to eat in the restaurant, but to sit and enjoy a drink and a few snacks with friends, in the comfortable bar areas, particularly the popular snug. It is obviously still very much a local for the village community, as well as a fine pub & restaurant with rooms. It is also a very popular pub for visitors with their canine friends! I saw several of our four-legged friends, leading their owners in from the village, into the pub! Man’s best friend is always welcome at The Richard Onslow!

The dining area was very elegant with stylish upholstered chairs, displaying large-scale bold patterns. The texture, pattern & earthy colours of the seating created a character & contemporary edge to the pub’s relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. There were what looked like, small woodcut prints of cranes, placed around the restaurant walls, on a leaf motif, floral patterned wallpaper. The cranes are a nod to the origins of Cranleigh, reputed to have been, ‘a woodland clearing visited by cranes’. The figure of a crane adorns the old drinking water fountain of 1874 in ‘Fountain Square’ in the middle of the village and a pair of cranes adorn the crest of the 21st century granted coat of arms of Cranleigh Parish Council.

The Richard Onslow is a fine example of an old English village pub with loads of character, where the community comes together, and visitors are made to feel very welcome. You can grab a simple snack, stay and linger over a sumptuous meal in the restaurant area or even stop over for the night in one of their excellent rooms. For tasty food, quality ales & fine wines in a local friendly pub atmosphere, The Richard Onslow is a smart choice. If we are to halt the closure of thirty-five pubs a week across the country, this is how it will be done, a well-managed pub being supported by the local community, tourists and other patrons.

I would not hesitate in recommending The Richard Onslow if you are planning to visit Surrey or simply passing through the county. Why not stop and experience their superb food and hospitality, you will not be disappointed. The overall The Richard Onslow experience was very enjoyable and satisfying. The Richard Onslow offers excellent overnight accommodation options, superb restaurant meals and excellent table service in an exciting large village destination. Why not check it out for yourself. I simply loved it!

Have you thought about visiting a new pub restaurant, for that special dining experience?

Why not visit The Richard Onslow for that special occasion. You won’t regret it. I had a great time, and I hope to be going back very soon! The Richard Onslow is a great local village pub with a top-quality restaurant and ten very comfortable rooms! In 2022, Peach Pubs won the Best Sustainable Pub Company at the Publican Awards, and three-star accreditation by the Sustainable Restaurant Association. By providing such excellent quality food and drink, combined with the warm, friendly hospitality, this classic village pub is sure to win many more awards for its food and hospitality over the next couple of years.

It certainly comes highly recommended from me! Why not check it out for yourself?

Disclosure: My visit was courtesy of The Richard Onslow & Sarah Pracey at Peach Pubs

The views and comments expressed are as usual my own.

The Richard Onslow, 113 – 117 High St, Cranleigh Village, Surrey, GU6 8AU