St John’s pub The Lamb and Flag has won third prize in a competition to name Oxford’s best pub. CAMRA (Oxford’s Campaign for Real Ale) awarded second place to the Mason's Arms and first place to Far from the Madding Crowd.
St John’s College opened the Lamb and Flag Tavern beside the College in 1695. Named after the two symbols associated with St John the Baptist, the pub has served generations of students and professors, as well as writers and celebrities including JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Graham Greene and Bill Clinton. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was a regular visitor during his student days at St John’s in the 1970s. Thomas Hardy used the pub as a setting in his novel Jude the Obscure, and it has also been featured in many episodes of Inspector Morse.
In 1999, the future of the Lamb and Flag became uncertain when Halls Brewery decided not to renew the lease. As the pub was very popular with both town and gown, the College’s Finance Bursar, Mr John Montgomery, suggested that the College could take over running the pub. Since that time, all of the profits from every drink sold are put towards supporting student scholarships at St John’s. The Lamb and Flag Scholarships are awarded to graduate students who are of “outstanding academic excellence” but have no other source of funding to pursue their doctorate degrees.
Since the scheme started, Lamb and Flag scholarships have enabled 37 gifted students to further their studies at St John’s. That’s definitely worth raising a glass to!
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