Top management of Ellison Institute visit Oxford as campus plans take shape
There could hardly be a greater contrast between the futuristic research campus being built at Oxford Science Park and the 17th century Eagle and Child, but both are owned by the Los Angeles-based Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) which will soon be a big name in Oxford. The pub was bought from St John’s College as the institute wanted a meeting space in the city centre, but president and chief operating officer Lisa Flashner has made clear that the Eagle and Child will be restored as a pub.
Visiting Oxford this week with senior directors Matt Abney and Tom Myers, they enjoyed pints of XT3 West Coast IPA in the Lamb & Flag opposite their pub as Lisa explained: “If people celebrate us half as much when we open the campus as when we re-open the pub, we’ll be doing well.”
EIT – founded by billionaire Larry Ellison in 1977 – is keenly aware of the importance of the Eagle and Child not only to university life but also to the people of the city. The link with writers known as the Inklings, led by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis who met here every Tuesday between 1939 and 1962, is clearly important to EIT. But the new owners also showed understanding of the role of the traditional pub in bringing people of all ages and backgrounds together, something they said did not happen in the US.
Modernist architects Foster and Partners have been appointed to develop the campus, due to open in 2026, and Foster is also managing restoration of the pub. But unfortunately, due to its poor structural condition and nearly four years of standing empty (it closed with the first lockdown in March 2020), no date can be given for its re-opening.
The challenge is to recreate the pub’s original features, including the alcoves at the front and the Rabbit Room where the Inklings used to meet, while making the narrow building more welcoming. The conservatory dining area at the rear, which Lisa described as “horrible”, will be demolished and replaced by a modern addition. Key to the plans is to open up the rear garden, with access via the passageway up the side as well as through the pub, now that many people are comfortable sitting outside in almost any weather.
She also showed a strong preference for appointing an independent company rather than a pub group to operate the Eagle and Child, being impressed by how the Lamb & Flag is operating since it was leased to a community group by St John’s, with the emphasis on local real ales and other local suppliers. Lamb & Flag landlord Dylan Dudbridge-Hay has said he would welcome the Eagle and Child’s re-opening, especially as his pub doesn’t serve main meals but only snacks.
“We haven’t started work on the Eagle and Child yet as we are still at the planning stage, and it is in a serious state of disrepair,” said Lisa. “But we will restore the original pub to what it was, including the Rabbit Room, and Foster’s team are looking closely at what a traditional pub is really like. Our vision is to continue to have small spaces where people come together to talk. That’s what makes English pubs great, to help bring a sense of community and cross-generational conversations.”
“On the upper floors, we will create spaces for our scholars to meet and get to know each other, including private dining.”
Tom Myers, an architect himself, added: “It will be slow going re-opening the pub, as to just clean the floors and open the doors would be a shame. Our plan is to re-open it as soon as possible, but we need patience.”
EIT plans to engage with the Tolkien Society as well as CAMRA, and there is no doubt that the writers had closer links with the Eagle and Child than with the Lamb & Flag, although their links with the latter helped garner worldwide publicity when this pub closed. Indeed, long-term Eagle and Child landlady Win Reading told the Oxford Drinker in 2016: “Tolkien and Lewis used to come into the back room of the pub and they would shut the door, as they didn’t want anyone else in there. But they didn’t drink very much, so one day we said to them politely that we needed that room for a darts board. Basically, we threw them out!”
EIT has bought a slice of history with the Eagle and Child, and it will be fascinating to see how this blends in with its role as a leading biotech research company when the campus opens in 2026. According to its website, “The Ellison Institute of Technology develops and deploys technology in pursuit of solving four of humanity’s most challenging and enduring problems. Guided by world leaders, scientists and entrepreneurs, EIT seeks to accelerate innovation in medical science and healthcare, food security and sustainable agriculture, clean energy and climate change, and government policy and economics.
“The EIT Oxford Campus will incorporate more than 30,000m2 of research laboratory space, an oncology and wellness patient clinic, and educational and gathering spaces to support ongoing work in EIT’s humane endeavours.”
The Eagle and Child, and conversations that take place there, can only help in that. We will watch developments with great interest.