| The Bear | |
|---|---|
.jpg) View ofThe Bear fromBear Lane | |
  Location within Central Oxford | |
| General information | |
| Location | 6Alfred Street,Oxford,United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°45′05″N1°15′21″W / 51.7515°N 1.2557°W /51.7515; -1.2557 |
| Opened | 1242 |
| Website | |
| www | |
The Bear (historically associated withThe Bear Inn)[1] is apub inOxford, England, that was founded in 1774 as The Jolly Trooper.[2] It stands on the corner ofAlfred Street andBlue Boar Street, oppositeBear Lane in thecentre of Oxford, just north ofChrist 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 theHigh 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] There is a claim that by adopting its name, the current (1774) Bear Inn has acquired the history of the pub on the High Street, and so is one of the oldest pubs in Oxford.[4] In 1952 the then landlord, Alan Course, started a collection of tie ends; a selection of the over 4,500 ties are on display around the pub. The tie collection was used as part of the plot ofColin Dexter's novelDeath Is Now My Neighbour, in whichInspector Morse consults the landlord in order to identify a club tie. The building wasgrade II listed in January 1954.
The documented history of the site of the original Bear Inn on the High Street has been traced to 1241, when Lady Christina Pady bequeathed the property toSt Frideswide's Priory in return for having a privatemass said for her for eternity; at that time it had a dwelling house, later called Parn Hall, but this burned down in 1421. There is evidence of an inn, Le Tabard, in existence by 1432 in addition to a neighbouring piece of land with shops at the rear. It was known as The Bear Inn by 1457, and by 1523 the land at the rear was part of the pub's property; it contained stables for the coaching horses, and was bounded to the south by St Edward's churchyard. During theDissolution of the monasteries between 1536 and 1541 the priory was taken over byThomas Wolsey, who createdChrist Church on the grounds, and the "eternal" masses for Christina Pady ceased. In the early 17th century a dwelling for the pub stableman was built over St Edward's churchyard, and this dwelling was converted in 1774 to the present day pub, with evidence of skeletons from the churchyard still in the cellar. TheMitchells & Butlers pub,All Bar One on 124 High Street, along with the neighbouring shop, 123, now occupies the site of the original Bear Inn on the High Street.[5][6]
On 28 April 1241, Lady Christina Pady, the daughter of Ralph Pady, aburgher (important citizen) and Oxford mill owner,[7] and the widow of both Laurence Kepeharme (died c.1208), the firstMayor of Oxford,[8] and Jordan Rufus (died c. 1241–50), bequeathed toSt Frideswide's Priory the land and property on the High Street that would, by 1432, be an inn (Le Tabard).[9][10] The bequest gave property at the western corner ofHigh Street andAlfred Street, and property to the south near the corner of Alfred Street andBlue Boar Street,[9] which in total amounted to onemessuage (a dwelling house with outbuildings) and four "seldis" (booths or shops), to the priory in return for thecanons saying a mass for her for eternity,[7] though Christina Pady retained the right to live in and benefit from the properties while she lived.[9][10] In 1277, a Thomas Pope, with his wife and son, were given the tenancy of Parn Hall (Pirnehalle) – the messuage on the High Street – for the rest of their lives for a sum of twomarks per year, with a deposit of 30 marks.[11] It is thought that the two properties bequeathed by Christina Pady (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.[12] It was known as The Bear Inn by 1457, and a transfer of tenancy from Robert Mychegood to Henry Stanley took place in 1522.[12] A lease dating from 1523 states that grounds of 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] The 17th century antiquarianAnthony Wood, in hisSurvey of the Antiquities of the City of Oxford (1661–66), mentions that during the time ofHenry VIII (the first half of the 16th century), the landlord was Furres, and the place was known (perhaps informally) as "Furres Inne".[13]
The property of St Frideswide's Priory was acquired byThomas Wolsey (also known as Cardinal Wolsey, chief advisor toHenry VIII, hisLord Chancellor, and theArchbishop of York) during thedissolution of the monasteries.[14] Wolsey closed down the priory (ending Christina Pady's perpetual masses), and built Cardinal College (nowChrist Church) on the grounds.[15] Following Wolsey's fall from grace in 1539, the land was taken over byHenry VIII, who, in 1545, sold parts of the property, including 123 and 124 High Street, to one of his courtiersRichard Taverner and his younger brotherRoger.[16]
Richard Edes, anElizabethan poet, playwright and clergyman,[17] in his Latin poemIter 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, whenjudges and royalcommissioners were among the patrons. The heir to the throne inDenmark visited in 1652. In the 18th century, the inn served as the depot for the "Oxford Machine" stage 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. TheMitchells & 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 building on the corner of Blue Boar Street and Alfred Street, which now houses The Bear, was built in the early 17th century as the residence for the coaching inn'sostler. It was converted into a tavern, The Jolly Trooper, in 1774.[2] When The Bear Inn's premises on the High Street were rebuilt and converted into private housing in 1801, its business name transferred to the 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 clubties, started in 1952 by the landlord, Alan Course,[2] who had worked as a cartoonist at theOxford 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 indicatemembership of a variety of institutions, such as clubs, sports teams, schools and colleges.[24][25]
The building wasClass II listed in January 1954, noting that the building is "Probably C17 but has been altered and modernised", and that it istimber framed, externally covered instucco, though with some original frame work visible internally at the top of the staircase.[26]
InRobert Boris's 1984 comedy movieOxford Blues, The Bear is where the main character, Nick Di Angelo, and his student friends occasionally meet to drink.[27] InColin Dexter's novelDeath Is Now My Neighbour,Inspector Morse seeks the aid of the pub's landlords (and tie experts), Steve and Sonya Lowbridge, in identifying a tie from a photograph.[28] Oxford-educatedAustralian arts leaderAnthony Steel recalls in his autobiography,Painful in Daily Doses: An Anecdotal Memoir, that Alan Course, the landlord, played theLast Post on his bugle, for a student lying in the middle of the street outside the pub.[29]
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