The Pulpit

The Pulpit occupies a narrow shopfront on Devizes Road that first opened as the Hop Inn in 2012, credited locally with starting Old Town's shift toward cask ale and craft beer after decades of mainstream lager dominance in Swindon's pubs. It later traded as the Little Hop before being taken on by White Horse Taverns, a small independent group running four pubs across Wiltshire, and renamed the Pulpit in 2025. There is no kitchen, so food is limited to pasties, rolls and other hot snacks kept behind the bar rather than cooked to order. Eleven cask ales and six craft kegs are typically on at once, with two house beers from Broadtown alongside rotating guest lines. Seating is tight, spread across a single small room, and the pub leans on regulars rather than passing trade.