Eagle and Child: Tolkien and Lewis pub bought by tech institute
The Eagle and Child in St Giles' has a plaque inside commemorating the writers' get-togethers An Oxford pub that was frequented by authors CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien has been bought by a research institution building a campus in the city.
The Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), founded by US tech billionaire Larry Ellison, said it had bought the Eagle and Child, which shut in 2020.
Lisa Flashner, Chief Operating Officer of EIT, and her architect associates visited Oxford last month. They went to the recently refurbished Lamb and Flag pub opposite Eagle and Child to speak with Oxford Drinker. While the bottom floor of the pub is still intended to be open to the public, Ms Flashner stated: “On the upper floors, we will create spaces for our scholars to meet and get to know each other, including private dining.” The pub was most famously frequented and admired by literary icons J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis as members of The Inklings, a group of writers and academics that would congregate in the “Rabbit Room” at the back of the pub.
There will be changes to the pub’s layout as the current dining area will be demolished and the back garden expanded as a way to create more space across the ground floor. There will also be a passageway created to the garden through the side as another entrance to the pub, aiding the separation between the EIT hub and public house aspects of the property.
However, there are structural issues that arise from the pub’s four-year abandonment. Ms Flashner claims the pub is currently “in a serious state of disrepair.” Tom Myers, an architect, also commented: “It will be slow going reopening the pub. Our plan is to reopen it as soon as possible, but we need patience.” Aside from architectural concerns, Ms Flashner was receptive to community praise in reopening the pub. She stated: “If people celebrate us half as much when we open the campus as when we reopen the pub, we’ll be doing well.”
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