Historic pub near Stafford ready for new life after makeover by family team with big plans for the future
A pub near Stafford with origins in the 12th century has been given a new lease of life after a takeover and 21st-century makeover by a family team.
The Holly Bush at Salt had been closed since September 2025, but has been given a new look and has reopened under the stewardship of the Hewitt family.
The pub claims to have origins as far back as 1190 and is reputed to be the 2nd oldest inn to be granted a licence, with the oldest part of the existing building being a thatched roof which dates from the early 17th century.
With extensions and alterations over the centuries, there are three distinct areas, a bar area, dining room and snug.
It reopened on Thursday (January 15) after the new tenants had taken over, with husband and wife Mike and Dawn Hewitt running the bar and their son Callum working as head chef, and Mike Hewitt said a lot of work had gone into getting the pub ready.
He said: "We've sort of cleaned it up all the way through, completely refurbishing it and getting in some nice colours in, as well as new flooring and new lighting and giving it a fresh new look.
"The garden outside is something we're going to put turf out over, then there'll be an indoor area and that will be dog-friendly only, so it separates the area where the kiddies and family can sit and then have a site just for the dogs.
"We've been in the game for about 28 years, having run the Horns Inn in Slitting Mill and the White Swan in Burntwood, which we've moved the whole team over from to work here."
In addition to offering a wide selection of drinks such as cask ales, Guinness and premium lagers, the Holly Bush will also become a place for a good meal, with Callum Hewitt setting out some of the plans for the menu.
He said: "We're going to be doing a full menu with a lot of new dishes on it, but also a lot of our old classics that people travelled to the Horns for originally.
"All the food is freshly made and we will have something called the Holly Bush Combo, which will be a big meat dish that I think people will love, plus lots of fish dishes and our hangers, which are kebab sticks with two sides.
"There's also going to be a pizza oven in the back, so that'll be good in the summer."
Mike Hewitt said they were aware of and proud of the history of the pub and said the plan was to make the Holly Bush a destination pub that people would want to travel to.
He said: "The pub will have the low ceiling and the beams and open fires, so it'll be really cosy and really nice.
"It will definitely be worth the travel for people to come to us, just like it was at the Horns as people used to travel to us and we are open to everyone from locals to people travelling in."
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