The Rose and Crown in Ashbury is rated 2 for its building. All 15 October ratings so far scored 5, among them The College Oak and Abingdon Foodbank.
Every Vale of White Horse food business given a hygiene rating in October so far has scored the top mark. All 15 October ratings on the register are a 5, “very good”.
The lowest new rating is a 2 for The Rose and Crown on High Street in Ashbury, after an inspection on 3 September. Ashbury is on the Wiltshire border, about 20 miles south-west of Abingdon. A 2 means “improvement necessary”.
Both come from the 34 ratings that have appeared on the Food Standards Agency register since our last check on 2 October. Most are late-arriving September inspections.
What the Ashbury inspection found
Each inspection scores three areas. The FSA record for The Rose and Crown shows:
- Hygienic food handling: good
- Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building: improvement necessary
- Management of food safety: generally satisfactory
So the pub was marked down on its building, not on how it handles food. It has posted no reply on the register, and no new rating is pending.
Eight ratings below 5
Of the 34 new ratings, 26 are a 5. The other eight are listed below. No business was rated 1 or 0.
| Business | Where | Inspected | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Rose and Crown | 3 High Street, Ashbury | 3 September | 2 |
| Peking Dynasty | Newbury Street, Wantage | 2 September | 3 |
| FuelBox | Caterer, OX12 (no street address on the register) | 7 September | 3 |
| The Heritage Bakery | Elms Farm, Grove Road, Grove | 24 September | 3 |
| Trout Inn | Tadpole Bridge, Buckland Marsh | 25 September | 3 |
| New Hanney Spice | School Road, West Hanney | 4 August | 4 |
| Tiffins Abingdon | 7 Bath Street, Abingdon | 24 September | 4 |
| ALT Trust at John Mason School | Wootton Road, Abingdon | 24 September | 4 |
West Hanney is about six miles south-west of Abingdon and Grove about seven. Wantage is about ten miles south-west. The Trout Inn at Tadpole Bridge is about 12 miles west.
A 3 means “generally satisfactory” and a 4 means “good”. None of the four premises rated 3 was marked below generally satisfactory in any area. FuelBox scored good on its building and generally satisfactory on the other two.
The two Abingdon premises rated 4 were both inspected on 24 September. Tiffins on Bath Street scored good for food handling and management, and generally satisfactory for its building. The school kitchen at John Mason, run by ALT Trust, scored good for food handling and the building, and generally satisfactory for management.
Who scored 5
The 15 October ratings published so far include:
- in Abingdon: The College Oak on Peachcroft Road, Abingdon Foodbank at Christ Church on Northcourt Road, and The Old Shop Nursery on High Street
- at Milton Park: Planted Plates in Signal Yard, about three miles south
- at Cothill: the Thomas Franks kitchen at Cothill Prep School, about four miles north-west
- in Kennington: Mon Choisy care home on Kennington Road, about four miles north
- in Wantage: Your Coop Little Pioneers nursery on Daisy Lane, Kingsgrove
- around Faringdon: The Snooty Mehmaan at Littleworth, Coxwell Hall Nursing Home on Fernham Road, and the breakfast and after-school club at Stanford Primary School in Stanford in the Vale
Late September 5s include two in Abingdon town centre, The Brewery Tap on Ock Street and Dorindos on High Street, both inspected on 30 September. Wantage Nursing Home, The Tandem in Kennington and the Dog House Hotel at Frilford Heath also scored 5.
The newest rating on the register is dated 23 October. Late-October inspections have not appeared yet, so the October count will grow.
The rest of the register
The register now lists 1,066 premises for the Vale, including 42 that are exempt from rating.
| Rating | 2 October | 3 November |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 781 | 792 |
| 4 | 112 | 108 |
| 3 | 55 | 56 |
| 2 | 11 | 12 |
| 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Awaiting inspection | 54 | 54 |
The two premises rated 1 are unchanged: Le Petit Doigt on West St Helen Street, Abingdon, and Matsho Africaribbean in Wantage Market Place. The eleven rated 2 that we listed before, including Dil Raj on Ock Street, have no newer rating published. The Rose and Crown makes twelve.
What it means for you
- Read the three area scores, not just the number. The Rose and Crown’s 2 is about the building, not the food handling.
- A low rating can change. A business can ask the council for a re-rating once it has made the improvements. It will not normally be revisited within three months, and should expect a visit within six.
- Any business can reply. A right to reply can be posted on the FSA register until the next inspection.
- Report a concern to the council. Food safety in Abingdon, Wantage and Faringdon is enforced by Vale of White Horse District Council, which holds the officer’s report behind each rating.
The entries above are reported exactly as the public register records them. We approached no business for comment. Any business named here that has been re-rated, or wants its reply noted, can contact us and we will publish an update.
Planning a meal out? Our Christmas dinner in Abingdon list has prices, and our parking guide covers the town centre car parks.
Sources
- Food Standards Agency food hygiene rating register, read via the FSA’s open data API for Vale of White Horse District Council on 3 November 2026, for every rating, inspection date, area score and total quoted.
- FSA record for The Rose and Crown, Ashbury, for the three area judgements.
- Our 2 October 2026 roundup, for the earlier register totals and the list of premises rated 1 and 2.
- Food Hygiene Rating Scheme: guidance for businesses, GOV.UK, for the right to reply and re-inspection waiting times.
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