The Berkeley Vale Hotel, on the east side of the A38 at Stone, is not mentioned in the 1891 and 1903 books of licensed houses in Gloucestershire. It was certainly trading as a hotel in the 1960’s but, according to the late Wilfred Merrett in his book ‘Pubs of the Old Stroud Brewery’, the Berkeley Vale Hotel was a Victorian coaching inn. It became a gentleman’s rest home for a while but was later relicensed. The building was once heavily foliated with ivy or virginia creeper but the frontage is now devoid of vegetation.
The Berkeley Vale Inn closed in September 2002. A resident of Stone, Rosa Harper, told the ‘Citizen’ newspaper: “I’ve lived in Stone for 25 years and know how important the pub is to everyone. It’s such a shame as it was the main meeting place for people in the village.”
In 2006 a planning application was submitted to convert the building into two semi-detached houses, construct eight new homes and to ‘convert an existing outbuilding into a new but smaller pub and restaurant for the village.’ Permission was granted.
However the structure of the old Berkeley Arms Hotel steadily deteriorated over the next few years to the extent that it was an unsightly eyesore.
This page will be updated with additional information.
Map Reference: SP 685954
1991,1997 Steve and Liz Turner
