No. 30: Former Pheasant Inn
No. 30 St Giles' Street was built in the early seventeenth century, and has two eighteenth-century panelled rooms and fireplaces on the ground floor. It is owned by St John’s College, and is Grade II listed (List Entry No. 1369456). It lies in St Giles' parish.
Until about 1870 the building was larger than it is today, extending into what is now Keble Road, and it was then divided into a shop (No. 30) and the Pheasant Inn (No. 30A).
The shop at No. 30 (until 1871)
James Elliot Morton was the shoemaker in the shop at No. 30 by 1839, but he died early in 1847. At the time of the 1851 census, Harriet Morton, a widow of 65, was a tea & coffee dealer here, where she lived with her two dressmaker daughters and two lodgers. She was still running a shop here in 1851, and in 1861 when she was 75. Mrs Morton died here on 1 December 1869, and at the time of the 1871 census her daughter Harriet A. Morton (66) ran a stationery and toy shop here , and lived here alone with a lodger.
The Pheasant Inn, 1792–1956 (numbered 30A, 30½, or 31 up to 1871,
and thereafter occupying the whole of 30 St Giles' Street)
The first record of a pub or inn called the Pheasant here was in 1792, when it was leased by Hall’s Brewery.
In 1808 and 1814 the landlord of the Pheasant was Mr P. Johnson, and by 1821 it was Wiliam Forty.
On 7 June 1834 John Mead announced in Jackson's Oxford Journal that he had taken on the Pheasant Inn and that there were “good Beds and excellent Stabling.—Horses taken in to stand at livery—Good coach-houses.” At the time of the 1841 census Elizabeth Mead (c.50) was the publican and lived here with her servant and an ostler.
On 22 October 1842 Matthew Neave announced that he had taken on the Pheasant, and boasted of its well-aired beds, and its extensive and excellent stabling with moderate charges. The 1851 census shows him living at the Pheasant Inn (numbered 31 rather than 30A) with his wife Harriet and their four children, and there were three guests staying at the inn on census night. Matthew Neave died at the age of 57 in August 1853.
On 11 March 1854 William Spencer announced that he had taken over the Pheasant Inn, boasting of its well-aired beds, good stabling, and lock-up coach house and stating that hay and straw were sold there by the truss. The 1861 census shows the victualler William Spencer (46) living at the inn with his wife, 11-year-old daughter, two lodgers, and a servant. His wife Katharine died here at the age of 57 on 22 February 1871. The 1871 census shows William Spencer, his niece, a general servant, an ostler, and a youth who looked after the Bath chair hire. By this year it held a university wine licence, allowing it to sell wine in the precincts of the University .William Spencer died here at the inn at the age of 68 on 6 May 1874 and his daughter Mary Ann Spencer took the business over.
Prior to 1872 a small road called the Pheasant Road ran along the north side of the Pheasant Inn, but around that time part of the inn was taken down to make way for a new 60-feet wide road leading from the Parks along the north side of the new Keble College into St Giles' Street (the present Keble Road). Thereafter the whole of the remaining part of No. 30 was occupied by the Pheasant Inn.
By 1878 the licensed victualler was Albert Beckley, and the 1881 census shows him aged 41 and living at the Pheasant Inn with his wife Anne and their children Henry (11), Anne (9), and Harriet (6), plus a general servant, an ostler, and two “bath-chair lads”, aged respectively 19 and 17. He was still here in 1891 (with the pub erroneously called the Lamb & Flag) with his wife, his daughters Anne (19), who was a barmaid, and Harriet (16), and three servants: one worked as an ostler, and the other two as bathchair men. In 1901 the family was still here with two servants (an ostler and bath-chair man). By the time of the 1911 census Albert's only son Henry Edward Beckley was the licensed victualler of the Pheasant and lived here with his wife and their daughter, plus two servants. Henry died here at the age of 44 near the end of 1914, and his widow Ada Beckley took over the licence.
From 1916 Victor Robert Edward Drewe was the landlord of the Pheasant, which was now considered a public house rather than an inn. In the 1921 census his name was crossed out so he was probably away from home, but his wife Louisa Mary Drewe (42), described as his assistant in the licensed house, was here with their two daughters. He remained as landlord here until 1927, when he concentrated on his main trade as a hairdresser.
Richard Charles John Jarvis was the licensee here from 1928 until his death near the end of 1937. His widow Lily Jarvis then took on the licence, and the 1939 Register shows her living here at the Pheasant with Jessie & Harold East. She remained the licensee until 1956 when she was aged about 72 and presumably retired. The inn then closed.
Since 1956
In 1956 Oxford City Council approved a planning application by St John's College to turn the Pheasant at 30 St Giles' Street into offices (56/00354/D_H), and Wenn Townsend Accountants have occupied this building ever since. The name of the Pheasant still survives over the door:
Occupants of 30 St Giles’ Street listed in censuses and directories |
||
Date |
30 |
30A |
| 1821–1871 |
James Eliot Morton Mrs Harriet Morton Miss Harriet A. Morton |
Pheasant Inn William Forty John Mead Matthew Neave William Spencer |
1871–1876 |
Pheasant Inn |
|
1878–1915 |
Pheasant Inn |
|
1916–1927 |
Pheasant P.H. |
|
1927–1956 |
Pheasant P.H. |
|
1958–present |
Wenn Townsend Accountants |
|