The Five Mile House is a former public house on Old Gloucester Road, Duntisbourne Abbots, Gloucestershire, England. It was built in the 17th century and is grade II listed. The pub was on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. Documents found from 1891 and 1903 referred to the pub as the Old Inn. The Five Mile House is a 300 year old coaching inn set high in the Cotswolds on the old Roman Road - Ermin Street. The Five Mile House had been owned and operated by the Ruck family since the 1930s and had hardly altered in the intervening 65 years. It was known for its historic features of bare wood floors, open fires and wooden seating. A small bar lead through to the tap room with its high-backed settles and wood-burning stoves. John Burrows once said: "I remember Ivy Ruck of the Five Mile House at Duntisbourne Abbots with much respect and affection. I first visited the pub when I was a young man and her father Fred kept it. Latterly I used to call in on cold winter’s nights for a pint of Courage’s Ale straight from the barrel. Sometimes I was her only customer, and I often thought how vulnerable she was there on her own as a single woman.” When the landlady, Ivy Ruck, died in 1995 there were fears that this totally unspoilt pub would close forever The classic country pub was saved and was reopened again in 1997 when the Carrier family bought the Five Mile, and was run successfully for many years. Unfortunately the re-routing of the A419 diverted much of the passing custom away, and despite great effort to remain viable the pub closed finally in 2015, and converted to a private residence where it is being sympathetically converted to a private home.
Documented history
Owner in 1891: Mrs Marianne Sutton Rateable Value in 1891: £14.10s.0d. Type of licence in 1891: Alehouse Owner in 1903: Mrs E.M. Cumberland Rateable Value in 1903: £14.10s.0d. Type of licence in 1903: Alehouse Closing time in 1903: 10pm Landlords: 1856 Mrs A. Andrews 1861 George Telling 1891, 1906 Jesse Short 1913 Thomas Ratcliffe 1927 Albert Bennett 1939 Frederick William Ruck Ivy Ruck 1997,2010 Jo Carrier The Five Mile House is now permanently closed.
