Cider Pub Guide to Oxfordshire
From Ukcider
The guide to pubs selling cider in Oxfordshire.
27 entries so far
Contents |
Abingdon
- Stocks Bar, The Crown & Thistle Hotel, Bridge Street, Abingdon OX14 3HS (Tel: 01235 522556)
Reputedly six real ciders (Westons bag-in-a-boxes).
Bampton
- The Morris Clown, High Street, Bampton OX18 2JW (Tel: 01993 850217)
Friendly locals' pub proclaiming "proud not to do food". Intriguing Moulin Rouge-style decor. Moles Black Rat (but the carbonated variety rather than the more authentic polypin version).
Banbury
- The Exchange, 50 High Street, Banbury OX16 5LA
Typical cavernous Wetherspoon with the standard range (Westons Old Rosie on hand-pull, Organic Vintage in bag-in-box, plus various bottles). Staffing and stock control can often be chaotic so don't bank on your favourite always being on. Can get unpleasantly rammed on Friday and Saturday nights.
- SH Jones, 27 High Street, Banbury. Tel: 01295 251179.
Off-licence with bottled Sheppy's and Gwatkins ciders (see also Bicester, below). Soon to open a wine bar at the site.
- Ye Olde Reindeer at 47 Parsons Street (01295 264031) is a Hook Norton pub which, though it only serves Stowford Press, is generally a much more pleasant atmosphere than the Exchange.
Bicester
- S H Jones, 9 Market Square, Bicester OX26 6AA (01869 322448)
Quality off-license with bottled Biddenden and Sheppy's ciders. Branches also at Banbury, Oxon and Leamington Spa, Warks.
- The Penny Black, 58 Sheep Street, Bicester OX6 7JW (01869 321535)
Smaller-than-usual Wetherspoon, mostly non-smoking. Usual range of Westons bag-in-a-box plus various bottles.
- The Swan, 13 Church Street, Bicester OX26 6AY (01869 369035)
Far and away the best pub in town. 'Brakspears' (Refresh UK) house with comfortable sofas and clean, bright decor. Draught Addlestones, which is better than nowt I suppose. A short walk out of the centre of town, by the church.
Burford
- Royal Oak, Witney Street, Burford OX18 4SN (01993 823278)
Weston's Traditional Scrumpy. A Wadworths house, this is the most pubby, and least restauranty, pub in Burford (though food is available) with a roaring fire and a local rather than passing-through clientele.
Chadlington
Delisted: The Tite Inn, Mill End, Chadlington, Chipping Norton, OX7 3NY. Tel: 01608 676475 (Pub website)
Now under new ownership and sadly no longer selling Hecks - just Stowford Press and Magners.
Charlbury
- The Rose and Crown, Market Street, Charlbury (01608 810103): http://www.myspace.com/theroseandcrownpub
Town centre pub usually selling Moles (Thatchers) Black Rat and Biddendens Bushells. Ocacsionally Gwatkins Golden Valley perry or cider in bottles. Keg Stowford Press and Broadoak Pheasant Plucker; has had Gwynt y Ddraig perry and Thatchers Cheddar Valley at the winter beer festival. No food. Open from lunchtime every day. Charlbury has a good hourly train service from Oxford and Paddington.
Crawley
- The Crawley Inn
Foxburrow Lane, Crawley, nr Witney OX29 9TS. Wonderful unkempt biker/hippie pub on the outskirts of a plush Cotswold village. Westons Old Rosie, Bounds Brand, and Thatchers Heritage all on draught, plus keg Thatchers Pear Cider.
There was a barman who looks like Hagrid out of the Harry Potter books.
Finstock
- The Plough Inn, The Bottom, Finstock. Tel: 01993 868333. Website
- North Oxon CAMRA Cider & Perry Pub of the Year 2006 *** Currently stocking (as of July 08) - Weston's Stowford Press (draught), Old Rosie (bag-in-box), Weston's Country Perry (bag-in-box), Sheppy's Dry Farmhouse (bag-in-box). Also good food & ales (re-entered Good Beer Guide for 2008 edition).
Great Barrington
- The Fox Inn, Great Barrington OX18 4TB (01451 844385) Website
Westons Herefordshire Country Perry (and Stowford Press) About a mile off the A40 just west of Burford. Food is "retro not gastro". Lovely riverside patio.
Great Tew
- The Falkland Arms, The Green, Great Tew OX7 4DB. Tel: 01608 683653; pub website; photo
Draught cider on handpump - in July 2006 this was Westons Traditional Scrumpy (plus Old Rosie and Thatchers Cheddar Valley during their beer festival). Astonishingly picturesque 16th century pub in this National Trust preserved village. Evening meals are available but only in limited hours, and tend to get booked up well in advance. If you can't get a table, just go for the excellent hand-reared pork pies instead. Off the B4022 between Banbury and Enstone.
Henley
- The Lamb, Satwell, Rotherfield Greys, nr Henley RG9 4QZ (01491 628482)
Lovely old country pub owned by Anthony Worrall Thompson, so the food should be good ! Sells Luscombe Organic Devon Cider in bottles.
Hornton
- Dun Cow, West End, Hornton, Banbury OX15 6DA (01295 670524)
Two draught ciders plus a wide range of bottles, according to the (excellent) local CAMRA newsletter Beer on Tap.
Kidlington
- Changed ownership and complete refit, needs revisiting: The Bell, Hampton Poyle (just north-east of Kidlington)
A posting at ratebeer.com suggests this pub offers five real ciders (!). On our afternoon visit the pub was closed but claimed to open from 4pm Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday). There were three Westons stickers on the front door. There is also a placard up offering a ten-year lease on the pub.
Oxford
- Eagle and Child, 49 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LU (Tel: 01865 302925)
Famous pub which was previously the haunt of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and so on. Cider varies - sometimes none, sometimes Westons Old Rosie bag-in-a-box plus bottled Westons Organic. Bottles of varying quality in the fridge.
- The Turf Tavern, 4 Bath Place, Holywell, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 3SU. Tel: 01865 243235.
Very busy old pub tucked down a side alley in the University part of town. Usually serves Old Rosie (unless it's off, or they've run out, etc. etc.).
- Hobgoblin, 172 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1UE (01865 439496)
Thatchers Heritage.
- Far from the Madding Crowd, 10-12 Friars Entry, Oxford OX1 2BY (Tel: 01865 240900)
Four different Thatchers bottles, plus Thatchers Gold draught. Self-consciously relaxed but pleasant atmosphere, all dark wood and newspapers. Hard to find - in the passage around the back of Debenham's, on the way through to the Gloucester Green bus station.
- Gardeners Arms, 39 Plantation Rd, Oxford OX2 6JE (Tel: 01865 559814)
Bottled Westons according to this blog entry. (Not to be confused with the Gardeners Arms on North Parade Avenue!)
- The Jericho Tavern, 56 Walton Street, Jericho, Oxford OX2 6AZ 01865 311775
Bottled Westons Organic, Brothers Pear Cider (unflavoured/strawberry), Westons Perry, Aspalls Suffolk Strong and rosé. Also Addlestones. (Sadly no draught Organic Vintage any more.) Spacious pub next to the Phoenix cinema with excellent burgers - plus the Loch Fyne Restaurant on the other side.
- The Cape of Good Hope, The Plain, Oxford
Formerly the daftly-named 'Pub Oxford' (part of the It's a Scream chain of student pubs), this is now a sister establishment to the Jericho Tavern and the Royal Oak on Woodstock Road. Westons Old Rosie and sometimes one other (Organic Vintage or Traditional Scrumpy) on draught, plus Addlestones, and bottled Brothers.
- The Grog Shop, 13 Kingston Road, Jericho, Oxford OX2 6EF
Off-licence with good selection of Westons (including 'wine-box' 1st Quality, Original Perry, and flagons of both Old Rosie and scrumpy) plus three French ciders. At the top end of Walton Street, by the mini-roundabout.
- The Royal Oak, 42 Woodstock Road OX2 6HT (Tel: 01865 310187)
Westons Traditional Scrumpy, Aspalls and Addlestones (plus bottled Westons Organic and Brothers). The third in the 'chain' also including the Jericho Tavern and the Cape of Good Hope, and perhaps the most laid back and relaxed of them all. Worth a visit.
Also in North Oxford, the Gloucester Arms (rock pub on Friars Entry, round the back of the bus station) serves Addlestones, and the Victoria Arms, by the banks of the Cherwell in Old Marston, serves Stowford Press. There's also a creperie on North Parade Avenue which sells Breton cider.
The Masons Arms, 2 Quarry School Place, Headington (01865 764579) claims to sell real cider on draught and in various bottles - not checked yet. See a forum posting and their website (possibly the hardest to navigate in the world ;) ).
Sadly now closed: The Wharf House, 14 Butterwyke Place (off Oxpens Road, between the Thames and St Aldates), which was a smokey real locals' pub with various cider and perry on offer - often Welsh cider, according to the landlord, though they were out of stock on our last visit. Local Green Party stronghold. Even when open the place looked half-closed and boarded up from the outside. Not exactly a student pub!
Oxford's Wetherspoon, the Four Candles on George Street, doesn't serve any real cider at all, not even in bottles. There is apparently now another Wetherspoons on Castle Street.
Swalcliffe
- Stag's Head, OX15 5EJ (01295 780232)
Westons Cider on handpump.
Swinbrook
- The Swan, Swinbrook, near Burford, Oxfordshire (01993 823339).
Beautiful riverside setting for this picturesque pub, just one mile off the A40 between Burford and Witney. Westons ciders and good beer and food. Now reopened under new landlord after major refurbishment autumn 2006. The good news is that Westons Organic Vintage is still available if you ignore the Stowford Press tap on the modernised bar, and ask. Those who remember the quaint Swan of old, with the Gents accessed from the yard outside, are in for a culture shock; the toilets are now accessed via the tasteful extension to the rear, where you are challenged by doors depicting hens with eggs, or a cock without! It is well staffed should you wish to order from the menu, or have your drink brought to your table. The changes seem to have been well received by the North Oxon CAMRA Branch, to judge from the front page feature of their Winter 2006 Beer On Tap newsletter.
Thame
- Local Tastes, 20 Buttermarket,Thame,Oxon OX9 3EP. Tel: 01844 216264.
Sadly, this excellent shop, which lived up to its name by featuring all sorts of local products, including cider, has been forced to close through lack of business.
Wantage
- The Royal Oak, Newbury Street, Wantage, Oxon OX12 8DF. Tel: 01235 763129.
A very popular pub which is a regular outlet for Lambourn Valley's Royal County. There are normally between 6 and 10 real ales available. Roy Bailey.
Witney
- The Angel Inn, Market Square, Witney OX28 6AL. Tel: 01993 703238.
Pleasant 17th century pub in central Witney. Westons Oak-Conditioned Vintage in bottles. Cheap pub grub.
| Have you found the information on this page useful? Do return after you've visited the pubs, and update the site with any changes. |
