Great Barrow's White Horse Inn, five miles east of Chester, should reopen by 5 November. A new firm has applied for its licence; villagers aim to own it by 2030.

The White Horse Inn at Great Barrow should be open again in time for Bonfire Night. A notice on the village’s community website says so, and the paperwork backs it up.

A new company, Great Barrow Hospitality Ltd, has applied to Cheshire West and Chester Council for a premises licence for the pub. The application appears on the council’s list of licensing applications updated 9 October. The company was incorporated on 18 September, registered at the White Horse on Main Street.

Great Barrow is about five miles east of Chester city centre.

Why it closed, and what happens next

The pub closed recently. A parish council notice, published alongside the update, says that after the closure “the owners have decided that they wish to sell the property”. The company that previously ran the pub, White Horse Great Barrow Ltd, was dissolved on 12 May 2026, according to Companies House.

The village notice sets out a two-stage plan:

  • now: a couple who, in the notice’s words, “know our pub better than anyone” are returning as its new prospective owners
  • by 2030: a group of villagers, “with the acknowledgement of the Parish Council”, wants to turn the White Horse into “a community owned, professionally managed pub”

The notice says the returning owners give the village “essential breathing space” to set that up. The group says it is early days. It held an open meeting at the Pavilion on the playing field on Saturday 3 October to gather ideas.

The community asset clock

The White Horse is an Asset of Community Value. The council’s register shows Barrow Parish Council nominated it, and it was listed on 3 December 2024 until 3 December 2029. It is the pub’s second listing: an earlier one, on a nomination by Chester and South Clwyd CAMRA, ran from 2017 to 2022. The listing gives a community group a window to ask for a moratorium, a pause during which the pub cannot be sold, while it raises money to bid.

The parish council’s notice says the deadline to start that moratorium expires on 19 October. It adds that it is aware of “a proposal from individuals in the village to acquire the pub and reopen it in the near future”. As a result, it says, it “does not intend to take any further action”.

In other words, the parish council is not triggering the pause, because a reopening is already in hand.

What the licence would allow

The application, number 586335, asks for:

Activity Hours applied for
Alcohol, on and off the premises 10am to 11.30pm Monday to Thursday; 10am to 12.30am Friday to Sunday
Live music Noon to 11pm Sunday to Thursday; noon to midnight Friday and Saturday
Plays and films 10am to 11pm daily
Late night refreshment 11pm to 1am daily
Opening hours 7am to midnight Sunday to Thursday; 7am to 1am Friday and Saturday

It also asks for an extra hour on bank holiday weekends and several other dates, and through the night on New Year’s Eve.

What it means for you

If you live in Barrow or nearby, the village pub should be serving again by 5 November, though the notice says “should”, not “will”. The pub’s Facebook page is where the owners post their news.

If you want a say on the licence, comments go to the council’s licensing team. The consultation on application 586335 closes on 5 November 2026.

If you want to help the community ownership plan, the group says it needs villagers’ “ideas, skills, time and enthusiasm”. Updates appear on the Great Barrow community website.

For other new licence applications across the district, see the council’s weekly list. Planning applications in the area are on our Chester planning news page.

Sources