Bringing the community together

The Cross Guns has been serving generations of people in Pant and is the village’s last pub. At one time, there were three pubs in the village. In recent years, the pub has been owned by two pub companies and has had a succession of tenants – some of whom have lasted only a few months behind the bar. In most cases, this was through no fault of their own. Running a public house is no picnic, and many of them didn’t have the flexibility, time or experience to offer what the locals wanted. Sadly, the pub lost its loyal local following, which ultimately led to the demise of the last tenant.

For the past six years, a group of locals on Facebook, known as the Friends of Cross Guns Pant, as well as others in the pub, have been discussing the pub’s future. The pub closed intermittently in 2025 and ultimately shut down in October of that year. Many of us have concluded that bringing it into community ownership is the only way the Cross Guns will succeed. Whilst the pub is shut, the group have organised a monthly Pop-Up pub event at Pant Memorial Hall. We also have a street food van, allowing villagers to catch up with their neighbours over a beer and a bite to eat. The nights are very well attended, and we have collected enough donations to continue with a special Christmas event and into the New Year.

A group of tenacious locals have formed a steering group which has launched a campaign to bring the pub into community ownership. This is not uncommon; so far, 217 community pubs have been established, and all remain successful. At the heart of everything we do is the community that we all love. This is the only reason why we are doing what we are doing. Our mission is to ensure that a community-owned pub serves the community. A clean and safe space for everyone, offering a warm, friendly welcome and a wide range of services that villagers desire. Our goal is to restore the building to good working order and make it a comfortable space for everyone. One possibility is a lovely cosy café by day and village pub by night, but ultimately that is up to you!

What we have done so far

• Registered the building as a community asset “twice”
• Arranged two Pop-Up pub nights
• Formed a steering group
• Viewed the pub with a builder and surveyor
• Delivered a leaflet to every letterbox in Pant
• Launched online surveys
• Reviewed the builder’s report & estimate
• Contacted local companies asking for support
• Built a website
• Started a new Facebook page
• Engaged with the Parish Council
• Engaged with Helen Morgan & Duncan Borrowman
• Been featured on the BBC website and Facebook
• Connected with Local Advertising and New groups 
• Raised over £100,000 in pledges
• Held a public meeting with expert guest speakers on November 24th
• Published various blog posts and video content about the public meeting.
• Secured free support time from experts through the Plunkett Foundation
• Taken steps to form a (CBS) Community Benefit Society as the vehicle to purchase the pub. (click here for more info)
• Made an offer to Admiral for the purchase of the pub, which was rejected

How can you help

We are currently asking people and local businesses if they would be willing to pledge, which essentially means saying yes and contributing if the time comes. This is a way for us to work out how popular saving the Cross Gus is and how likely it is to happen. Pledges currently range from £50 to £10,000, and we are truly grateful for every single one. The more, the merrier – we believe that community ownership should be available to everyone.

What are we doing at the moment?

We are currently putting together another questionnaire to help us develop a comprehensive idea of what the Cross Guns needs to offer. 

We are consulting with experts and obtaining independent valuations on the Cross Guns to ensure the community does not overpay.

The group is looking to make an offer, so we have a clear understanding of how much we need to raise going forward.

What are we doing next?

There will be a few more surveys to ensure that any proposed business plan reflects the wants and needs of the investors and the wider community. 

Following this, we will update everyone with a comprehensive business plan. Your survey results will be used to craft a vision for how Cross Guns will operate and the service standard you can expect.

If you have the skills to help in this, please do contact us. 

We’d like to invite you to share your views on the pub’s future at various stages, and we hope you will consider investing to protect the Cross Guns’ future.

As milestones are reached, we will update our news page.  So please do keep coming back to find out more.

In the meantime, you can pledge here to show your level of support.