Hallowed Turf
Tim Hampson visits the Turf Tavern, a unique pub in the heart of Oxford, England
Turf Tavern licensee Darren Kent offers an “education in intoxication.” He is passionate about beer, and is on a mission to educate the world.
The Turf is a historic pub located just outside the Oxford city walls. It is a village pub in the heart of a city. With foundations dating back to the 14th century, its city centre location makes it a favourite for both town and gown (the term used for students and teachers at the nearby Oxford University).
The Turf is probably Oxford’s oldest pub. The current timbered front part is 17th century when it was progressively a malthouse, a cider house and finally an inn (circa 1790), called the Spotted Cow. It was renamed the Turf Tavern in 1805 and thus it remains to the present. The pub has been frequented by the fictional character Inspector Morse and and non-fictional ex-President Bill Clinton, and some would claim that it is the “obscure and low-beamed tavern up a court” visited by Jude Fawley in Hardy’s Jude the Obscure – although this pub is later referred to as the Lamb and Flag.
The Turf has its own place in Oxford tradition, being the site of the yard of ale on Matriculation Day (the day on which new students are entered into the university), its famous cooked breakfasts at six in the morning on May Day, and it is a focus for students who have just finished their finals.
The Turf is also famed not just for its annual beer festival but his regular mini-fests which culminate in meet-the-brewer evenings.
“We specialise in havin.....
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By Tim Hampson
Section : Spotlight
Page number : 57
