Queen's Lane Coffee House is a historic
coffee house established by Cirques Jobson, a Levantine
Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
from
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. Dating back to 1654, it is the oldest continually serving
coffee house in Europe, but it has only been on the present site (
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, England) since 1970.
The building in which it operates is a
Grade II listed building
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 ...
.
It was in this coffee house where Jeremy Bentham discovered
Utilitarianism
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...
.
[Bentham, Jeremy (1829) Article on utilitarianism: long version, in Amnon Goldworth (ed.) Deontology Together with a Table of the Springs of Action and Article on Utilitarianism, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983, pp. 291-292.]
In 2009, it rebranded itself as "QL". There is a second, smaller, QL Café. Another Café QL (now called Café Bonjour) in Headington was once owned by the same family but was sold years ago.
The café has been owned by the same family since 1983.
See also
*
English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries
In 17th- and 18th-century England, coffeehouses served as public social places where men would meet for conversation and commerce. For the price of a penny, customers purchased a cup of coffee and admission. Travellers introduced coffee as a bev ...
*
History of coffee
The history of coffee dates back centuries, first from its origin in Ethiopia and later in Yemen. It was already known in Mecca in the 15th century. Also, in the 15th century, Zawiya (institution), Sufi Muslim monasteries (khanqahs) in Yemen e ...
References
External links
Official websiteQueen's Lane Coffee Houseinformation from
Daily Information
Queen's Lane Coffee Houseinformation from ''OxfordCityGuide.com''
Queen's Lane Coffee Houseinformation from ''The Oxford Guide''
1654 establishments in England
Shops in Oxford
Coffeehouses and cafés in the United Kingdom
Grade II listed buildings in Oxford
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