WINTER is creeping up on us and, with an icy shroud of snow already on the ground, customers will naturally be on the hunt for cosy fireside pubs to warm up by.

Fortunately, Worcestershire has some great 'real fires' to thaw out your bones, some of them as grand as any in a country house - or Hogwarts for that matter.

Comforting as they are, a few of the county's fireplaces may have something of a sinister quality from carvings of dancing devils wielding pitchforks to 'medieval' witch marks on the floor to protect the pub from malignant forces.

A 'judge's wig' was even found inside one of the fireplaces in one of Worcestershire's greatest historic pubs (dating from 1500) with perhaps the county's best pub fireplaces (two of them in different parts of the same pub).

OLD: The inglenook fireplace in the snug at the Three Kings Inn in Hanley Castle (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

(1) Three Kings Inn, Hanley Castle

The Three Kings Inn, which dates to around 1500, has to my mind the best open fires in Worcestershire. There is one in the snug with a serving hatch and an inglenook fireplace.

However, the grandest is the large log fire in Nell's Lounge next door which crackles away through the winter months beneath the dim glow of two carriage lamps. There can be few pubs as unspoilt as this one or with a more powerful atmosphere or sense of place and history.

STRANGE: Witch circles at the Fleece Inn in Bretforton but with log fires it is still a great place to thaw the cold from your bones  (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

(2) The Fleece Inn, Bretforton

The Fleece has to be one of the most intriguing fireside pubs in Worcestershire, not only because of its grand fires but the strange witch circles or witch marks on the floor which may date from medieval times.

So if the witches are abroad on a cold winter's night, here is one place you could seek sanctuary as it's been afforded every kind of magical protection. 

GRAND: The fireplace at the Camp House Inn in Grimley (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

(3) The Camp House Inn, Grimley

The Camp can be a grim place when the flood waters besiege her defences - but it is hard to imagine a cosier pub when the Severn, ever a cruel mistress, is calm.

The fire at the Camp is the perfect please to retreat to and drive the bitter cold from your bones. 

(4) King Charles House in New Street, Worcester

The fireplace of the King Charles is perhaps the cosiest in Worcester but look at the 17th century carvings around it and there is something a little strange and sinister.

Here you come face-to-face with carved devils wielding pitchforks and apparently tormenting some diners (or possibly gamblers). One man is even seen cowering in terror under a table.

RECOMMENDED READING: Fruiterers Arms Uphampton is hidden gem pub with cheap beer

RECOMMENDED READING: Three Kings Inn, Hanley Castle is an ancient treasure

RECOMMENDED READING: King Charles House, New Street: jewel in Worcester's crown

Dating from 1634, the fireplace was removed from Sidbury House, demolished like so many others during the catastrophic modernist blitz of the 1960s. It may be a touch creepy - but at least this fire will keep you warm.

(5) The Rose and Crown in Severn Stoke, near Kempsey 

The Rose and Crown in Severn Stoke has been dealt a few hard blows in winter as it is prone to flooding from the River Severn. Yet the team under Andrew Goodall has done more than most to proof the pub against the cruel whims of Mother Nature.

 The Rose and Crown has a roaring fire to keep visitors warm in this ancient pub which may be 500 years old. Offering hearth and hearty food, it has more than earned its place in this list.