Despite being just a short drive from the in-laws, we’d never visited The Swan Inn in Little Chart, Kent, until this week. After our first experience, we’re definitely keen to head back.
The pub was taken over by Purple Penguin earlier in 2026, and is led by the same team that took over The Black Horse in Pluckley around the same time, to the joy of Little Chart residents who seem to have very fond memories of the pub from over the years.
Tucked away in the Kent countryside, this beautiful old country pub has tons of character: a stunning red-brick exterior, timber-framed rooms inside, and an impressive history. This Little Chart pub is thought to date back to the 16th century, with records showing that the pub was already welcoming customers by the early 1800s. There are multiple areas for drinking and dining, but it was the outside that impressed us the most.
The Swan Inn has a lovely, spacious garden with a mixture of picnic benches and hay bales for seating. The Great Stour runs alongside the garden, its shallow waters providing paddling opportunities for the kids, and we made a mental note to bring wellies next time…
There’s also a play structure, although our eight-year-old’s verdict was that it needed a little TLC – the slide is broken, and the whole thing is looking a little tired.
Beside the play area is a field which, from what I understand, you can pitch up to camp in for free when you eat or drink at the pub. From what I’ve read online (this may be worth checking, now the pub is under new management), there are toilets and showers available for campers and, while there isn’t an electrical hook-up, I believe overnight visitors are able to use the pub for things like charging phones and pumping up air beds.
With my in-laws living down the road, though, we weren’t there to camp – we were there to eat.
We arrived fairly late for lunch, but fortunately the kitchen was still open and we grabbed a table in a room to the side of the bar. Because it was quiet, we only had the light bites and pizza menus to choose from, but this was more than enough – there were filled ciabattas, sausages and mash, burgers, Ploughman’s platters and the pizzas, and we ordered from both menus.
When the food arrived, the first thing that struck us was the portion sizes, which were certainly generous. The presentation was great too, without being overly fussy.
Our son chose the Southern fried chicken pizza (£15): a hand-stretched base that was far from the perfect circle (adding to the rustic charm), topped with tangy BBQ sauce, generous slices of breaded Southern fried chicken and a decent amount of cheese. He was a big fan, and while he couldn’t manage the whole lot in one sitting, we boxed it up and the leftovers became dinner later that day.
The fish finger ciabatta (£12.50) was another substantial offering, packed with huge homemade fish goujons, tartare sauce and lettuce, with a generous portion of chips on the side. The Southern fried chicken burger (£14) was equally impressive, and definitely hit the spot.
My choice was the Ploughman’s. Priced at £15, it was enormous enough that I also had to box up the leftovers to eat later – the child wasn’t the only one getting a second meal out of his lunch! Running down the middle was a line of salad, with three different cheeses – Cheddar, Brie and Stilton – in one corner. There was a wedge of garlic-spiked pâté, a thick slice of ham, a selection of pickles (pickled egg, gherkin and a pickled onion, plus a pot of Branston pickle), plus butter and a huge, warm ciabatta roll. It was exactly the sort of meal I was after at a country pub on a sunny day.
Service was friendly and helpful throughout, too. It did take us a little while to find anyone when we first arrived, but when someone eventually appeared at the bar he apologetically explained that he had been dealing with a delivery, which is fair enough!
We’ll definitely be back to The Swan Inn in Little Chart. It’s beautiful, it’s full of history and character, and there’s plenty of space outside. It’s family and dog-friendly, and the food is generous, tasty and reasonably priced, and that riverside garden adds a little something extra.
Next time, though, we’re coming prepared and bringing wellies…