The Barley Mow is a historic

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, just south of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

near the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

Clifton Hampden Clifton Hampden is a village and civil parish on the north bank of the River Thames, just over east of Abingdon in Oxfordshire. Since 1932 the civil parish has included the village of Burcot, east of Clifton Hampden. The 2011 Census record ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Overview

The pub has been called "''the best known of all Thames pubs''". The

timber-frame Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...

d building dates back to 1352 and is of traditional construction with a

thatched roof Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

. The Barley Mow was photographed by

Henry Taunt Henry William Taunt (1842–1922) was a professional photographer, author, publisher and entertainer based in Oxford, England. Birth Henry Taunt was born in Penson's Gardens in the parish of St Ebbe's, Oxford. His father Henry was a plumber a ...

in 1877. The building was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in 1952. According to the Thames Pilot, The Barley Mow was described in Parker's notes (1911): The Barley Mow is currently run by Greene King, a large UK chain of pubs, restaurants and inns which operates the Barley Mow under their "

Chef & Brewer The Chef & Brewer collection is a collection of over 150 licensed countryside pub restaurants in the United Kingdom, owned by Greene King. They provide pub food, specials and cask ales. History Grand Metropolitan, which later formed part of Di ...

" brand.

In literature

The Barley Mow was notably featured in chapter 18 of

Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humorist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...

's 1889 novel ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous novel by English writer Jerome K. Jerome describing ...

'': It is also mentioned in the 1883 ''The Dictionary of the Thames'' by Charles Dickens, Jr., who notes that:

...although the house is primitive, and the entertainment unpretending, it is a capital little inn of its class, and may be recommended to all boating men.

Peter Lovesey Peter Harmer Lovesey (10 September 1936 – 10 April 2025), also known by his pen name Peter Lear, was a British writer of Historical mystery, historical and Detective fiction, contemporary detective novels and short stories. His best-known ser ...

's ''Swing, Swing Together'' mentions the Barley Mow.

Gallery

File:The Barley Mow, Clifton Hampden - geograph.org.uk - 658518.jpg, General view. File:Barley Mow, Clifton Hampden.jpg, Closer view. File:The Barley Mow, Clifton Hampden - geograph.org.uk - 579388.jpg, The entrance. File:The Barley Mow, Clifton Hampden - geograph.org.uk - 579400.jpg, The Chef and Brewer pub sign, on the opposite side of the lane from the pub itself.

Bibliography

* Jerome, Jerome K. ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)''. J. W. Arrowsmith, 1889. * Richardson, Sir Albert Edward, and Hector Othon Corfiato. ''The Art of Architecture''. Greenwood Press, 1972. * Winn, Christopher. ''I Never Knew That About the River Thames''. Ebury Press, 2010.

References

External links