The Bear, Oxford

The Bear (historically associated with "The Bear Inn")[1] is a pub in Oxford, England, that was founded in 1774 as The Jolly Trooper.[2] It stands on the corner of Alfred Street and Blue Boar Street, opposite Bear Lane in the centre of Oxford, just north of Christ Church, on the site of St Edward's churchyard.[3] It was converted from the early 17th century residence of the stableman (ostler) for the coaching inn, The Bear Inn, which was on the High Street, Oxford. When The Bear Inn was converted into private housing in 1801, The Jolly Trooper changed its name to The Bear (or The Bear Inn).[2]

The Bear
View of The Bear from Bear Lane.
Location within Central Oxford
General information
Address6 Alfred Street, Oxford, United Kingdom
Coordinates51°45′05″N 1°15′21″W
Opened1242
Website
www.bearoxford.co.uk

The documented history of the site on the High Street has been traced to 1241, when it had a dwelling house, later called Parn Hall, which burned down in 1421, with evidence of an inn, Le Tabard, in existence by 1432; so there is a claim, via associated history, that The Bear is one of the oldest pubs in Oxford.[4] The Mitchells & Butlers pub, All Bar One on 124 High Street, along with the neighbouring shop, 123, now occupies the site of The Bear Inn on the High Street.[5][6]

History

The Bear Inn, High Street

On 28 April 1241, by bequests in the wills of Laurence Kepeharme, the first Mayor of Oxford,[7] and Jordan Rufus (both husbands of Christina Pady), St Frideswide's Priory acquired the land and property on the High Street that would, by 1432, be an inn (Le Tabard).[8][9] The wills gave property at the western corner of High Street and Alfred Street, and property to the south near the corner of Alfred Street and Blue Boar Street,[8][10] which in total amounted to one messuage (a dwelling house with outbuildings) and four "seldis" (booths or shops), to the priory, though Christina Pady retained the right to live in and benefit from the properties.[9][8] In 1277, a Thomas Pope, with his wife and son, were assured tenancy of Parn Hall (Pirnehalle), the messuage on the High Street, for the rest of their lives for a sum of two marks per year, with a deposit of 30 marks.[11] It is thought that the two properties bequeathed by the wills (the dwelling house on the High Street and the four shops on Alfred Street) were joined at some point and formed the yard and buildings of what became The Bear Inn.[12] The original building, Parn Hall, burnt down in 1421.[2]

In 1432, there is mention of an inn known as Le Tabard being leased to John and Joan Berford.[13] It was known as The Bear Inn by 1457,[13] and a transfer of tenancy from Robert Mychegood to Henry Stanley took place in 1522.[13] A lease dating from 1523 states that The Bear Inn was bounded on the south by the cemetery of St Edward's Church, which lay where the present pub, The Bear, stands.[3] Anthony Wood, in his Survey of the Antiquities of the City of Oxford (1661–66), mentions that during the time of Henry VIII (the first half of the 16th century), the landlord was Furres, and the place was known (perhaps informally) as "Furres Inne".[14]

The property of St Frideswide's Priory was acquired by Thomas Wolsey during the dissolution of the monasteries.[15] Wolsey built Cardinal College (now Christ Church) on the grounds of the priory.[16] Following Wolsey's fall from grace in 1539, the land was taken over by Henry VIII, who, in 1545, sold parts of the property, including 123 and 124 High Street, to brothers Richard and Roger Taverner.[17]

Richard Edes, in his Latin poem Iter Boreale, records the proprietor of The Bear Inn in 1583 as a Matthew Harrison, who had a pet bear named Furze (considered to be possibly a reference to the previous landlord, Furres).[18] The inn was fashionable in the 17th century, when judges and royal commissioners were among the patrons. The heir to the throne in Denmark visited in 1652. In the 18th century, the inn served as the depot for the Oxford Machine coach, which carried passengers to London for a fare of 10 shillings.[2]

The Bear Inn closed in 1801; after which the building was sold and divided into two.[6] At the time there were over thirty bedrooms, with stabling for a similar number of horses. The Mitchells & Butlers pub, All Bar One on 124 High Street, along with the neighbouring shop, 123, now occupies the site of The Bear Inn on the High Street.[5][6][19]

The Bear, Alfred Street
Some of the cut-off ends of neckties displayed at The Bear, 2010

The building on the corner of Blue Boar Street and Alfred Street, which houses The Bear, was built in the early 17th century as the residence for the coaching inn's ostler. It was converted into a separate tavern, The Jolly Trooper, in 1774.[2] When The Bear Inn's premises at the High Street was rebuilt and converted into private housing in 1801 its business name transferred to the former Jolly Trooper.[2][20][21] The land on which the present building was constructed was the churchyard of St Edward's church from c. 1122 to 1388; in 2018, human bones were found in the cellar which belonged to several bodies which had been buried in the churchyard.[3]

A distinctive feature of the Bear is a collection of over 4,500 snippets of club ties, started in 1952 by the landlord, Alan Course,[2] who had worked as cartoonist at the Oxford Mail.[22][23] Tie ends were clipped with a pair of scissors in exchange for half a pint of beer. These were originally pinned to the wall and are now displayed in glass-fronted cases on the walls and even the (low) ceiling. The ties mostly indicate membership of clubs, sports teams, schools and colleges, etc.[24][25]

The Bear is a location in Robert Boris's 1984 comedy movie Oxford Blues.[26] It is used in Colin Dexter's novel Death Is Now My Neighbour when Inspector Morse seeks the aid of the pub's fictional landlords (and tie experts), Steve and Sonya Lowbridge, in identifying a tie from a photograph.[27] It is included in Painful in Daily Doses: An Anecdotal Memoir, the autobiography of Oxford-educated Australian arts leader Anthony Steel, who recalls Alan Course, the landlord, playing the Last Post on his bugle, for a student lying in the middle of the street outside the pub.[28]

See also

References
  1. Honey, Derek S. An encyclopaedia of Oxford pubs, inns and taverns. Usk: Oakwood, 1998, p. 19.
  2. Christopher Hibbert, ed. (1988). "Bear Inn". The Encyclopaedia of Oxford. Macmillan. pp. 35–36. ISBN 0-333-39917-X.
  3. Cotswold Archaeology (August 2018). Bear Inn, 6 Alfred Street, Oxford Archaeological Watching Brief (PDF). cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk.
  4. Benedict Le Vay (1 October 2011). Ben Le Vay's Eccentric Oxford. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 249. ISBN 978-1-84162-426-6. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  5. Stephanie Jenkins. "Oxford History: The High". oxfordhistory.org.uk.
  6. "123, HIGH STREET". historicengland.org.uk.
  7. "Laurence Kepeharm (d. c.1208) Mayor of Oxford from at least 1205–1207". oxfordhistory.org.uk. 13 January 2020.
  8. Spencer Robert Wigram (1895). Cartulary of St Frideswide's. Oxford historical society at the Clarendon Press. p. 109.
  9. Douglas Macleane (1897). "A history of Pembroke college, Oxford, anciently Broadgates hall, in which are incorporated short historical notices of the more eminent members of this house". The Oxford Historical Society at the Clarendon Press.
  10. Spencer Robert Wigram (1895), Cartulary of St Frideswide's, Clarendon Press
  11. Spencer Robert Wigram (1895). Cartulary of St Frideswide's. Clarendon Press. pp. 297–299.
  12. Herbert Edward Salter (1772), Survey of Oxford
  13. Salter, Survey of Oxford
  14. Dana F. Sutton (27 August 2003). "Richard Eedes, Iter Boreale (1583) Commentary Notes". philological.bham.ac.uk. The University of California, Irvine. p. 259.
  15. David Horan (1999). Oxford: A Cultural and Literary Companion. Signal Books. p. 18. ISBN 9781902669052.
  16. Willoughby, James (October 2015). "Thomas Wolsey and the books of Cardinal College, Oxford". Bodleian Library Record. 28 (2): 114–134.
  17. Julian Munby. "126 High Street" (PDF). Oxoniensia. Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society. xl: 258.
  18. Richard Eedes (1583), Iter Borealecf. Furze with the previous name of the pub, Furres Inn{{citation}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  19. "124 AND 125, HIGH STREET". historicengland.org.uk.
  20. James Ingram (1837), Memorials of Oxford, vol. 3, John Henry Parker, retrieved 18 February 2013
  21. Historic England (12 January 1954). "Bear Inn Public House (1047357)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  22. "Alan Course, Cartoonist", Oxford Mail, 14 May 2012, retrieved 13 February 2013
  23. "Mail cartoonist Alan Course and friends at the piano", Oxford Mail, 12 November 2012, retrieved 13 February 2013
  24. "Tie Collector 1953". britishpathe.com.
  25. "Tie Collecting Aka Tie Cutting AKA Tie Collector 1955". britishpathe.com.
  26. Srishti Nirula (1 September 2014). "Fact vs fiction: Oxford university on film". oxfordstudent.com.
  27. Colin Dexter (1996), Death Is Now My Neighbour, Macmillan
  28. Anthony Steel (2009), Painful in Daily Doses: An Anecdotal Memoir, Wakefield Press
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