(Image: NQ)
A highly-regarded community-owned North Yorkshire village gastropub has closed saying “the business in its current form is no longer commercially sustainable.”
Stephen and Amanda Hawkins of the White Horse in Church Fenton, near Tadcaster, announced the closure on social media late last week.
The White Horse opened as a pub in Main Street, Church Fenton in 1881 and became a community-owned pub in 2018.
The couple, who took over the pub in 2022, posted online that the pub would not re-open “under our operation following the current closure.”
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In recent years, Stephen and Amanda had built up a successful and award-winning gastropub. Accolades included it being awarded Best Place for a Sunday Roast in Yorkshire in 2022 in the Rate Good Roasts Top 10.
TripAdvisor awards the venue 4.1 stars out of five, ranking it second out of four Church Fenton restaurants. Google awards 4.6 stars out of five based on 335 reviews.
In their statement, the couple said the decision to cluse was “incredibly difficult to make,” saying they have had “fantastic times” and got to know so many wonderful people.”
They also thanked their customers and their staff, adding: “I am very pleased that everyone has moved on to the next chapter of their lives, and I wish everyone one of them well.”
The post also confirmed the closure decision: “Ultimately, the simple answer is that continuing the business in its current form is no longer commercially sustainable.
“Sometimes, however much you care about something, you have to recognise when the time has come to make a change.”
The post continued: “This doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the White Horse as a pub. I sincerely hope it isn’t.
“My priority now is to work constructively with those people involved to help achieve an outcome that gives the White Horse the best possible opportunity to reopen and be an important part of the Church Fenton community.”
“For us though, this particular chapter had come to an end.”