The Chapel

“Warm and friendly place to shop, meet, drink and eat the very best seasonal, local food. ”

This was not the place that we thought we’d find in a gorgeous village in Somerset. But then Bruton is not defined by its countryside location or its picturesque look. There’s a lot going on within these country lanes. You might even, sometimes, think a tiny piece of London has just got off the train. Hey, even John Steinbeck said of Bruton: ‘I feel more at home here than I have ever felt in my life in any place.’ 

So maybe it makes sense to find The Chapel right at the center of it all. We want to write lots of naff sentences saying things like worship at the culinary altar of the chapel, or bread is our gospel, or a church for modern life, but though it threads a desirable religiosity through its space, the Chapel is very much to the side of that. Yes, it’s a serene update of a Grade II Listed, 19th-century space, which is itself a remodel of an 18th century former congregational chapel. And yes, you very much sense that history within its walls. But it’s also much less ethereally focused in its update of the purpose for these spaces: it now contains all the things we need to build the modern good life. 

There’s the artisan bakery headed by Tom Hitchmough using a traditional long fermented process. We’re bread believers: bakeries can be the souls of our communities. Just think about the hours involved in creating a loaf, that nighttime toil, the scents and bustle created around the storefront, the taking home of packages of warmth, and the mindful in the moment-ness of breaking bread. 

Then there’s the award-winning all day-restaurant which though is buzzes with conversation and contemporary needs (a bar where the altar would be) somehow manages to instill tranquility (and even quiet our kids) with its high ceilings and windows, streaming natural light, and figurative sculpture looking down on the dining congregates. It holds us in our days: somehow moves from loungey to kitchen table to posh restaurant, and from solo coffee to dinner for two to group dining, depending on where you are seated, what you need, and the time you are there. 

More behind the scenes are the clubhouse, a private resident’s lounge from which to work (free Wifi) and relax. And the eight bedrooms that offer a tranquil pause. Oh, and there’s a carefully curated wine store that focuses on local producers. 

But the thing we’re struck by is that The Chapel also offers this, public events for the curious that attract some big names and introduce some life-changing ideas: like a talk by Ed Bullmore, author of The Inflamed Mind, connecting the mind and the body through inflammation, an evening with Martin Shaw, a storyteller of ancient myths for modern times, and a film screening with campaigner Nimco Ali discussing female genital mutilation. 

The Chapel pulls people together, over food, over wine, over conversation, over ideas. That is does so in a space long held for purpose and meaning, gives the idea of the communal a modern finish.

Website www.atthechapel.co.uk / instagram @thechapel / Facebook @thechapel / Twitter @thechapel

While you are here: For that creativity piece, head to Hauser & Wirth, an internationally renowned gallery that brings major art world players to a converted rural farm. For Nature + Wonder, visit The Bishops Place, where history is being interwoven with play in the cathedral town of Wells. And for spirituality of a pagan kind, walk to the top of Glastonbury Tor, and allow the legend and views to sweep over you. And you can do this from anywhere, buy a Mad Girl / Mad Boy sweatshirt by Bruton based Selfish Mother in collaboration with Bryony Gordon / Mental Health Mates.