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Jazz bands are now playing every Sunday in the courtyard at the Rose & Crown in North Parade Avenue, with music sessions taking place from 7pm until 9pm. Tickets cost from £10-£15.
It’s the latest attraction for customers at the family-run pub, which was named by The Telegraph this year as one of the best pubs in the UK.
Earlier this year, the pub installed a new retractable glazed roof over its patio to make it a more welcoming space all year round. The pub is run by Andrew and Debbie Hall and their son Adam.
The landlords made the investment so that the patio can be used during the colder, winter months. The Rose & Crown is the Oxford Mail Pub of the Week.
The family took over in 1983 and over the decades they have resisted widescreen TVs and jukeboxes so that drinkers can enjoy a peaceful pint.
In 2023, to celebrate their 40th anniversary in charge, Hook Norton brewery created a special cask ale to mark the occasion.
Mr Hall said: “At this time of year the new retractable glazed roof makes no difference, but in the colder months the patio is now much warmer and brighter.
“The roof is more aesthetically pleasing than we expected, and there’s only a very small increase in seating capacity. Inside the pub hasn’t changed at all and never will.”
Dave Richardson, a spokesman for the Oxford branch of real ale group CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), spotted the new patio roof during a visit earlier this year.
He paid tribute to the Hall family when they celebrated their anniversary, saying: “The Hall family are the perfect landlords for what many would regard as the perfect pub – traditional in every respect, with the emphasis on real ales, a wide range of other quality drinks, and unpretentious food.
“There are no TVs, no piped music, and nothing to detract from the warmth of their welcome and the opportunity to talk to friends old and new.
“The Rose & Crown has been in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide every year bar one since 1997
(Why not? Because Oxford had too many entries that year and the Oxford CAMRA branch had to axe one! Why us?)
… and always serves at least two local ales.”
The pub dates back to 1863 when Daniel Stokes built the Rose & Crown on land formerly owned by St John’s College. The pub opened (was named) as the Rose & Crown in 1867.
The hostelry has a 4.2 out of five rating on reviews site Tripadvisor and as a free house prides itself on serving local ales.
One reviewer posted; “You go here for the excellent service, outstanding welcome, engaging clientele and delightful beers and wine.
“Quite unbelievable but they have fine wines by the glass or bottle. Puligny Montrachet as an example!”
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