The Feathers has stood on the corner of the High Street since 1564 and is the most spectacular of Ledbury's many timber-framed buildings — three storeys of close-studded oak with jettied upper floors and white-rendered panels between. It was a Tudor coaching inn on the road from London to Aberystwyth, and its bar, restaurant and bedrooms have been in continuous use since.
You do not need to stay there to use the public bar, which serves Herefordshire ales and a respectable lunch menu under low oak beams that have not moved in 450 years. A pint in the saloon is the most comfortable way to admire the architecture in winter; in summer, take it onto the bench outside and look up.