Historic pub to get a revamp (From Oxford Mail)

Historic pub to get a revamp

9:00am Tuesday 6th November 2007 in Search By Gordon Rogers

ONE of Abingdon's oldest pubs, the 16th-century Kings Head and Bell, has been closed for internal refurbishment - but it's unclear when it will reopen.

The pub, in East St Helen Street, is set to undergo what the owners, Ladhar Leisure, based in the north-east of England, said would be a major refurbishment.

Director Barry Ladhar said: "We plan to invest a substantial amount of money for a major internal refurbishment. In the meantime, we have decided to close the pub. We have to submit a planning application to the local council and until this has been sorted out, I cannot give a date when the pub will reopen, but we hope early in the new year."

Five years ago, the Kings Head and Bell won a Jubilee Heritage award in a national campaign to recognise the role that Britain's pubs play in preserving the nation's architectural heritage. The pub beat competition from hundreds of pubs around the country to earn the award for its restoration. It is one of only two remaining old coaching inns in Abingdon. It had fallen into disrepair and was on the verge of closing in 1999, until new owners Wessex Taverns, based in the north-east, bought the pub and began restoration work.

Ladhar Leisure, which has large pub interests in the north-east, took over Wessex Taverns earlier this year.

The Kings Head and Bell is one of the oldest hostelries in Oxfordshire. It is believed to have had links with King Charles I, who may have visited it during the Civil War, when his court was based in Oxford.

The composer George Friederic Handel is rumoured to have stayed there when, after storming out of Oxford in a dispute over a concert at the Sheldonian Theatre, he travelled to Abingdon. There is a story that Handel gave a concert in the town, but whether he did remains a mystery.