The King's Arms (colloquially known as the KA) is one of the main student

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It claims to be the oldest pub in Oxford.

Overview

The King's Arms pub is in a prominent position on the corner of

Parks Road Parks Road is a road in Oxford, England, with several Oxford University colleges along its route. It runs north–south from the Banbury Road and Norham Gardens at the northern end, where it continues into Bradmore Road, to the junction with B ...

and Holywell Street, opposite the New Bodleian Library building. Also nearby are Broad Street and the

Clarendon Building Clarendon Building is an early 18th-century neoclassical building of the University of Oxford. It is in Broad Street, Oxford, England, next to the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theatre and near the centre of the city. It was built between ...

, part of

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. A local myth has it that the KA has the highest IQ per square foot of any pub or bar in the world. The pub is owned by

Wadham College Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

, which is located just to the north.

History

The site was originally occupied by buildings erected by

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

friars in 1268. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540, the land passed to the City of Oxford. The lease book of Oxford Council in 1607 stated "Thomas Franklyn has licence to set up an inn with the sign of the King's Arms". Franklyn's choice of the name refers to

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

(reigned 1603–1625), who was involved with Wadham College, immediately to the north. It opened on 18 September 1607. In the 17th century, the King's Arms was a popular location for plays. In the early 18th century, the south side and rear were rebuilt. The west frontage was added in the late 18th century. The King's Arms was variously a coaching inn (by 1771) and a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

during its history.

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

, in his interviews with biographer

Norman Sherry Norman Sherry FRSL (6 July 1925 – 19 October 2016) was an English novelist, biographer, and educator who was best known for his three-volume biography of the British novelist Graham Greene. He was professor of English literature at Lancaster Uni ...

, identified the King's Arms as the pub where he and

Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963 he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring which had divulged British secr ...

, among other intelligence officers, shared drinks around 1944. Greene was known to have been a practical joker in the comfortable confines of the pub as per Philby's recollections. It was around this time Philby wanted to promote Greene, who rejected promotion and resigned.The Life of Graham Greene Vol. 2, 1939–1955 p. 181 It was said that some dons held tutorials in the back bar as late as the 1970s. Before Wadham College reclaimed upper stories of the building in the 1960s, the King's Arms had been an hotel, once popular with commercial travellers. Until 1973, the pub's back bar, known as The Don's Bar, was not open to women, the last such bar in Oxford. There was a fire in that year, started by an electrical fault in the Don's Bar, not as some would have it by radical feminists. The room now known as The Office was in fact the landlord's office until 1992, when it was converted into extra bar space. The pub became a

Young's Young's (Young & Co.'s Brewery Plc) is a British pub chain operating nearly 220 pubs. The company was founded as a brewery in 1831 by Charles Young and Anthony Bainbridge when they purchased the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth. The company closed t ...

pub in 1991.

References

External links

King's Arms website
{{Pubs in Oxford Coaching inns Grade II listed buildings in Oxford Grade II listed pubs in Oxfordshire Pubs in Oxford Wadham College, Oxford 1607 establishments in England