In the first of a new series, Steve Thompson looks at some of the best local inn signs
Broad Face, Abingdon
The Broad Face in Abingdon is at the junction of Bridge Street and Thames Street. The building was erected in 1840, but there are records of a public house called the Broad Face as far back as 1734.
Mystery surrounds the origin of the Broad Face’s name. Some say it’s to do with its riverside location, as the building presents a broad face to the Thames. Much more colourful are the theories that it either alludes to the swollen face of a man who drowned in the river, or the bloated face of a man who was hanged at the gaol that used to be opposite the pub.
Duke of Monmouth, Oxford
The Duke of Monmouth in Abingdon Road is named after James Scott, illegitimate son of King Charles II, who led a rebellion against his uncle, King James II, in 1685. He was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor, captured and beheaded for treason.
According to An Encyclopaedia of Oxford Pubs, Inns and Taverns by Derek Honey, the original inn sign was “a headless man dressed in the regalia of an English duke”.
The Grapes, Oxford
The Grapes in George Street re-opened in August 2023, and among the many improvements by owner Morgan Pub Collective and landlord Johnny Roberts was a brand-new inn sign.
Pubs with this name aimed to stand out from others selling only ale, often known as beer houses. The bright new sign replaced a wooden bunch of grapes that later appeared on its namesake pub in Abingdon.
Eight hand pumps are available, with a wide choice of local real ales plus highly regarded beers from further afield, including Harvey’s Sussex Best. Keg ale and lager drinkers are also well catered for with no fewer than 40 keg lines.
Old Tom, Oxford
The Old Tom in St Aldates is named after one of the bells of Christ Church College opposite the pub. As Dave Richardson points out in his book Oxford Pubs: “One of the curiosities of Oxford is that the bell, which weighs more than seven tons, is rung 101 times at 9.05pm to commemorate the original number of students at the college… Even more curiously, the pub’s address is 101 St Aldates.”
Royal Blenheim, Oxford
Many associate the Royal Blenheim in St Ebbe’s Street with Blenheim Palace at Woodstock, 10 miles north of Oxford. The palace was built in 1705-24 by John Churchill to reward him for his victory at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704, in which the alliance army he led defeated the forces of France and Bavaria. Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace in 1874.
However, the Royal Blenheim pub is named after a stagecoach that plied between Oxford and London before the advent of the railways, although the stagecoach ceased to operate at least 50 years before the present building opened in 1889. The stagecoach can be seen in this previous inn sign, which adorned the pub in 2007 but sadly is no more. Everards still owns the lease but it is sublet to Titanic Brewery.
Three Goats Heads, Oxford
According to a plaque in the Three Goats Heads in St Michael’s Street: “From 1621 an inn on Cornmarket Street was named the ‘Three Goats Heads’ and bore the sign of the Guild of Cordwainers, of which the innholder was a member. The inn kept this name for over two centuries before its demolition and revival here on St Michael’s Street.” [A codwainer was a shoemaker.]
The Three Goats Heads, a Sam Smith’s pub, does not serve real ale.
- The Inn Sign Society is seeking new members and membership costs just £15 a year.