Two Famous Oxford Pubs

The Eagle and Child, The Lamb and Flag

Two Famous Oxford Pubs

If you’ve read my blog, you know my proclivities for hoisting a flask of English ale in an ancient pub. If you’re not one of my three faithful readers, before you start this adventure, I suggest you first fly to England, visit some pubs, and ponder your decision over a few pints.

It’s my humble opinion that to understand England and the English, you must first understand pubs. Don’t worry, I will eventually get to The Eagle and Child and The Lamb and Flag.

Pub is the shortened form of Public House and the Public House is the center of English social life. It’s not a bar, it’s an intimate social gathering that serves beer, wine, and a wide variety of other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to a broad range of the English social strata. Business men and women in suits will often be seen having lunch and a pint next to those sporting tattoos, black leather jackets and rings through their noses.  I call pubs:  The Great Levelers.  

You can also stop into some pubs for a morning coffee and a full English breakfast.

A pub is also often a meeting place for the intelligentsia, and in Oxford, the city built around one of the most famous universities in the world, that means you’ll find fellows(professors), writers, and others who make their livings off brain waves, sipping an ale or two.  In the case of both The Eagle and Child and The Lamb and Flag….which by the way are across St Giles street from each other and both owned by St John’s College….the calling card is famous writers from years past to the present.  J. R.R. Toilken, C.S. Lewis, and Colin Dexter among them.  The first two, along with others were part of a group called the Inklings and used to meet regularly in both these pubs to discuss and read passages from their ongoing efforts.

Here are thumbnail sketches to refresh your memory.

JRR Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien (JohnRonald Reuel, 1892-1973).  Famous for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, both of which continue to be so very popular that Tolkien is sometimes called the father of modern fantasy.  He was a professor (fellow) at a few colleges in Oxford, but had lived, studied and taught all over the world.  

CS Lewis

C.S. Lewis (Clive Staples, 1898-1963).  Famous for The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe, The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, along with several non-fiction religious works including Mere Christianity. He worked at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Colin Dexter

Colin Dexter(Norman Colin Dexter, 1930-2017).  Famous for the Inspector Morse mystery books and Television shows, including the follow-on shows:  Inspector Lewis and Endeavour.  Unlike the previous two authors, Dexter was not a member of the Inklings, and although graduating from Cambridge University, he was a high school teacher and an atheist.

The lives of all three of these men are fascinating.   Here’s a bonus:  If you ever see the original Inspector Morse series, see if you can pick out the author, Colin Dexter. He often made cameo appearances in the original or sometimes in the follow-ons.

So, how ‘bout them pubs, Bro?  Ok, ok...grab a pint and cool down...

The Eagle and Child (Often called The Bird and Baby or more rarely The Fowl and Fetus) dates from 1684 and takes it’s name from the coat of arms of The Earl of Derby.  There may also be earlier and more shadowy connections from when King Charles I made Oxford his capitol during the English Civil War (1642-1651).

Inside The Eagle and Child: 

The reason it's called 'pulling a pint.'

The Eagle and Child's famous Rabbit Room, where the Inklings met.

The Lamb and Flag, which takes its name from the Book of Revelations

description of Christ as the victorious Lamb of God.  This pub is even older than The Bird and Baby and dates to 1566, but was moved to its current site in 1613.

It’s thought that Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) wrote much of his novel Jude the Obscure here.  The pub has also been featured in the Morse TV series and it’s off shoots.  The pub is also mentioned in P.D. James’ book, The Children of Men. (Phyllis Dorothy, 1920-2014), sometimes called The Queen of Crime.

Thomas Hardy

PD James

Sad to say, pubs refurbish and modernize over the years.  In the case of The Eagle and Child, when it was refurbished around 1960, the Inklings began to prefer The Lamb and Flag, although they still met at both pubs. And, the Rabbit Room where they met atThe Eagle and Child still carries the name.

Inside the Lamb and Flag:

You see what I mean about English pubs?  They’re not bars, they’re history and literature preserved in a social mixing place and by the way, they serve damn fine beer!

A note about English beer:  It’s not served warm or flat, as the rumors go. The casks are kept in the cellar, so it’s always somewhere around 55ºF.  And the carbonation from the cask ales is the all-natural result of fermentation and not pumped in carbonation.  I only drink cask ales in England!