Residents near Jeremy Clarkson’s pub The Farmer’s Dog in Asthall have raised formal complaints about late-night music, traffic congestion, mud on the road and potential damage to a nearby 7th-century burial mound, according to parish council meeting minutes.
The minutes, published by Asthall Parish Council, say the use of Barrow Field on the B4047 as a temporary car park for staff and customers has led to queues of vehicles along the road and prompted questions about whether a change of use planning application is required to protect the Saxon barrow and manage new access and exit arrangements.
A complainant noted a new entrance to the car park on the east side that is “not well signposted” and said it is very close to a bend in the road. The parish minutes record that a “plethora of temporary signs” has been placed on the B4047, including notices about car park access, pedestrian safety, blue-badge parking and speed reduction, which residents say are visually intrusive on the boundary of a conservation area and a national landscape and sometimes obstruct drivers’ sight lines.
The minutes say temporary 40mph speed limit signs on Barrow Hill have since been replaced by permanent ones, but the temporary signs remain in place. The letter setting out the concerns has been passed to Oxfordshire County Council and West Oxfordshire District Council for consideration.
Parish councillor Ruth McCalman raised issues of excessive mud on the road after recent rain and reported complaints about very loud music on Saturday nights that affected nearby Worsham. Councillors noted that the music stopped at 10 p.m., meaning there was no apparent legal breach, but agreed to seek a polite request that volumes be reduced; the district councillor was recorded as agreeing to provide contact details.
The Farmer’s Dog has proved popular with visitors since opening, and the parish minutes say Clarkson is awaiting a decision on formalising temporary parking for staff and customers. Residents’ concerns recorded in the minutes focus on highway safety, the visual impact of signage in a conservation setting and the proximity of parking activity to Asthall Barrow, an ancient burial mound located just yards from the pub.
The parish council’s record frames the complaints as matters for the county and district authorities to consider, and councillors signalled they would pursue contact with pub management on issues such as music and road cleanliness. The Farmer’s Dog was contacted for comment, according to the minutes.