The claim
Tiny, timber-framed and hung with thousands of snipped-off neckties, the Bear sits on a corner between Christ Church and Oriel. Its 'since 1242' boast borrows the history of a lost medieval inn nearby, but the little rooms are genuinely old. A heated garden adds space, and the pub turns up in Colin Dexter's Morse novels.
What the records show
A 1241 property bequest and the medieval Bear Inn on the High Street (known as Le Tabard by 1432 and the Bear by 1457, closed 1801) underpin the claim, but that was a different building. The present early-17th-century house traded as the Jolly Trooper from 1774 and later took the Bear name. The 1774 is published by Stephanie Jenkins, whose street-by-street history of Oxford has the house at the south end of Alfred Street becoming a pub in its own right that year under the name the Jolly Trooper.
| Year | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1242 | Claimed founding | The pub |
| 1774 | First record of a drinking house here | Stephanie Jenkins, Oxford history pages |
What to look for inside
- Collection of over 4,500 tie ends begun in 1952
- Name inherited from a medieval High Street inn documented from the 15th century
- Medieval human bones found in the cellar during 2018 works
- Appears in Colin Dexter's 'Death Is Now My Neighbour'
Visiting
The Bear Inn is in Oxford, England, at 6 Alfred Street, Oxford OX1 4EH. We do not list opening times, because they change; the pub’s own site is the place to check before you set out.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bear,_Oxford
- www.bearoxford.co.uk/
- ratings.food.gov.uk/business/268342
- www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/high/tour/south/bear_inn.html
- www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol4/pp3-73
- camra.org.uk/pubs/bear-inn-oxford-157007
Know something we don’t?Suggest a correctionLast checked Oct 2026
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