Where to drink in Bishops Stortford

The market town argument

There is a type of English market town that gets overlooked in favour of its neighbours - where the pubs are genuinely good but nobody has thought to write about them. Bishops Stortford is one of those places. The core of the town around the market square and Windhill holds a cluster of independent pubs and bars that are doing serious work quietly.

The commuter population - many residents work in London or at nearby Stansted - has driven demand for places that are a cut above the average. The Beehive on Windhill is the product of that demand: a pub that takes its real ale seriously without making a religion of it, and that remains the natural first stop for anyone who drinks in the town regularly.

The bar scene

Bishops Stortford is not a cocktail-bar city in the way that Cambridge or Chelmsford are becoming, but Bar Twelve on Market Square has filled the gap with more confidence than the size of the town would lead you to expect. It operates as a proper cocktail bar on weekends - tight menu, well-sourced spirits - and quietly as a wine bar on quieter evenings.

Worth knowing

The town centre is compact and walkable. Most of the best drinking is within ten minutes of the station, which matters when you are coming in from London for the evening. The Half Moon on North Street sits slightly outside the main cluster but is worth the walk for its kitchen alone.