He dropped in at The Seven Stars in Marsh Baldon and tucked into lamb kofta, a popular Mediterranean dish, followed by crispy duck salad.

The hostelry near Oxford is on the edge of one of the largest village greens in the country. It has been selected as the Oxford Mail Pub of the Week.

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Sir Ian’s international playing career lasted from 1977 to 1992, establishing him as one of cricket’s greatest all-rounders. He played a total of 102 test matches for England. The former England cricket captain joined the House of Lords in 2020.

The Seven Stars is a community-run pub, which is managed by Sunit Bansode and Namit Julka.

Sir Ian Botham with Sunit Bansode at The Seven Stars (Image: Sunit Bansode/The Seven Stars)

Mr Bansode said: “Sir Ian Botham is a friend of someone who is in the community group which runs the pub.

“We were delighted to welcome him last month – he came for lunch and enjoyed lamb kofta for a starter followed by crispy duck salad – then he met the chef.

“Sir Ian was very friendly and was happy for some photos to be taken.”

In 2013, families from Marsh Baldon and surrounding villages formed the Baldons and Nuneham Community Society (BNCS), enabling them to buy shares in the 350-year-old Seven Stars and own it themselves.

Roast dinners at The Seven Stars in Marsh Baldon (Image: The Seven Stars)

Staff at the pub are looking forward to a busy summer, and next month they will host their third annual beer festival in a row, running from July 17-19.

Mr Bansode added: “During the summer, guests can enjoy live music in the garden, and our annual beer festival weekend has become a highlight.

“Aunt Sally is being introduced this year, and our fortnightly Indian cuisine evenings – along with special Diwali and Holi menus – have been warmly received.

“Traditional English events remain central to our offering, with village community gatherings, weddings, wakes, baby showers, beer festivals, and quizzes all forming part of our calendar.

“These are complemented by public events on the green, such as the vintage car show and local cricket matches. Every occasion is meticulously planned alongside our six day dining service, under the close attention of both myself, Namit, and our dedicated team.

“Our Sunday roast deserves particular mention. Owing to the exceptional culinary skill of our chef, booking has become essential. This popularity is reflected in our five star TripAdvisor ratings and glowing Google reviews. We warmly invite readers to visit our website for details of upcoming events and further information.”

The Seven Stars in Marsh Baldon (Image: Oxford CAMRA)

Mr Bansode added: “The reputation of The Seven Stars is growing rapidly, and our ambition is not only to maintain our current standards but to elevate them to even greater heights.”

Real ale enthusiasts Oxford CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) have researched the pub’s history.

CAMRA said: “This old coaching inn was under threat for a while but reopened in March 2013 as a community-owned pub with the main bar refurbished and a new function room/restaurant.

“It sits next to the village green which is claimed to be the largest in Europe and has a big garden for the summer. There is only one bus a day to the village so unless you come by car you need to walk from Nuneham Courtenay.”

The Barn at The Seven Stars (Image: The Seven Stars at Marsh Baldon)

Sir Ian Botham made his Test match debut for England against Australia on July 28, 1977, at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

In this third Ashes Test, the 21-year-old all-rounder made an immediate impact, taking five wickets for 74 runs in Australia’s first innings, including his first Test wicket, Australian legend Greg Chappell. He also scored 25 runs as England went on to win the match by seven wickets

Archaeologists working near Cirencester over the Oxfordshire border in Gloucestershire have made the discovery.

This includes coins and iron spearheads, as well as miniature bronze shields and spearheads, at a major ‘votive’ site dating back to the late Iron Age.

The site was first discovered by a metal detectorist in 2020 when a hoard of more than 150 silver and bronze coins and metalwork, which has now been acquired by the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, was uncovered.

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An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

This further archaeological work, conducted by the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) as part of a training excavation for the university’s MSc students, has now revealed the scale and national importance of the site.

Working with the original finder and in collaboration with the landowner, archaeologists were able to relocate the original hoard pit and place it in its historic context.

Professor Mark Horton, the RAU’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, who is also Director of the University’s Cultural Heritage Institute, which offers MSc programmes in Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and Historic Building Conservation, ran the excavations.

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An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

He explained: “Our archaeologists found that the hoard had been inserted into a sacred precinct marked out by a large area of cobbled pavement.

“These stones were worn flat by extensive wear, which suggests that some form of mass processional activity took place around the central area of the sacred site.

“During our excavations, we also discovered multiple spears which had been inserted, often vertically, into the soil to ‘protect’ this central area.

“Some were iron, but others were miniature spears, sometimes less than an inch in length, made of bronze.

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Professor Mark Horton of the Royal Agricultural University. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

“Model swords and scabbards, daggers, and shields, also made of bronze, were found scattered around this central deposit.

“These would have been used as ritual offerings, known as ‘votives’, and many of these had been deliberately broken into pieces to signify that they were offerings to the gods and were not to be recovered and reused.”

The site rested over a series of small pits cut into the local Cotswold limestone and filled with a fine soil, which the archaeologists believe had been introduced to the site.

These pits were completely empty of any artefacts, and the researchers think these holes may have been deliberately cut into the bedrock to plant trees or bushes.

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An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

Professor Horton added: “This is a major find. We know so little about the Iron Age or Celtic religion beyond the literary sources, written by the classical authors.

“Here we have direct archaeological evidence of religious practices at the very end of the Iron Age, on the eve of the Roman invasion.

“The many coins found show that the site belonged to the Dobunni tribe, whose capital was at Bagendon, just a few miles away from our dig site.

“Our newly discovered site was likely a natural place, or possibly a grove of trees, where offerings were made to the Celtic gods.”

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An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

Many of the coins from the hoard feature a distinctive three-tailed horse motif, which is believed to be typical of the Dobunni tribe.

The original hoard of coins, which was officially declared Treasure under the Treasure Act, has now been secured by Cirencester’s Corinium Museum, which raised £13,250 for its acquisition.

£25,000 is now needed to be raised for the objects’ conservation and display, and a fundraising campaign is being led by the Friends of Corinium Museum, with the aim of getting the hoard on display to the public sometime next year.

The excavation site has now been refilled to protect the site, but Professor Horton hopes that the RAU will be able to undertake another excavation next year.