The Sheep on Sheep Street, in the heart of the picturesque Cotswolds market town of Stow-on-the-Wold, will bring a new dimension to drinking and eating in the Cotswolds when it opens on Friday 1st July.

The Sheep has been designed to bring a little Soho style to the region, with light-filled, contemporary spaces in its newly created restaurant and bar and featuring a full length bar top that flows into a counter dining space in front of its wood-fired oven. Seating includes plush, turquoise velvet chesterfield banquettes alongside pendant lighting, vintage prints and modern artworks, oak parquet flooring, cool tiling and soaring roof lights.

To complement the contemporary restaurant and bar, the chic, plant-filled courtyard garden offers drinking and dining space for 40, and is built around an outdoor feature fireplace.

Brakspear’s in-house design team has also transformed the 22 bedrooms, all with luxury en-suite bathrooms. Using a muted palette of grey and blue tones on walls and in the soft velvet curtains and cushions with charcoal linen upholstered beds by Feather & Black, with crisp white linen and snuggly throws to create a fresh, country townhouse feel. Feature walls covered in pretty, stylish wallpapers sit alongside exposed Cotswold stone walls, original oak beams and other renovated architectural features. Furnishings include recycled antiques and vintage pieces and statement table lamps throughout. Rooms also feature flat screen TVs, studio ceramics and Nespresso Coffee Machines. Bathrooms come with huge, walk-in showers and/or roll top baths.

General Manager Ben Fox has created a speciality gin menu featuring ten classic British gins, from the highly regarded local Cotswold Gin to Silent Pool, an artisan gin distilled in the Surrey Hills and the iconic Tarquin’s Gin from Cornwall. Ben has also hand-picked ten craft beers and a select collection of classic cocktails.

The Sheep’s seasonal menu, created by head chef Matthew Houghton, and executive head chef,Antony Ely, is based around the wood-fired oven. On the menu, gourmet southern Italian-style wood fired pizzas such as BBQ beef brisket pizza with caramelised onions, fontina and jalapenos, the Sicilian pizza – Arrabbiata sauce, courgette, prawns, rocket, artichokes and basil – and the Sheep Street pizza – spiced lamb with Berkswell cheese, pomegranate, mint and red onion jam.

The Sheep also welcomes families, with a bespoke children’s menu available at all times, including its freshly-made pizzas. “We’ve devised a menu which is healthy, approachable and accessible and with quality and provenance using local, seasonal produce wherever possible,” says Antony Ely.

Stow-on-the-Wold is ideally situated for visitors, steeped in history and featuring a vast market square lined with medieval and Georgian buildings housing a host of top quality independent retailers and food producers. Some of the most picturesque Cotswolds villages are a hearty walk away yet the town is little more than an hour’s drive from Birmingham.