The
Crown Inn's History
Let's get the name straight
first. The jokers who separate the two syllables of Pishill into separate
words are probably right. We have maps dating back many hundreds of
years where there is an extra 's' in Pishill. The theory is that when
horses and waggons climbed out of Henley-on-Thames past The Crown,
they stopped at the inn, and whilst the ostlers had an ale the horses
would relieve themselves.
These days there may not be much to Pishill besides the church and
The Crown, but eight or nine centuries ago there was a thriving monastic
community here, and ale has been available at The Crown since the
11th Century. Our current building dates back to the 1400s, with the
barn (used for functions) being some 400 years old. Recent renovations
of the grounds revealed foundations to another barn and the field
opposite The Crown is called Crown Field showing that the inn doubled
as a farm.
Over the years the hamlet of Pishill has become smaller and the Parish
has joined with neighbouring Stonor. Stonor park is about a mile down
the road from The Crown and their histories have become entwined.
Indeed parts of Stonor House date to the 11th Century and the main
house that can be seen today dates back to the 1400s. The Stonor family
have always been devout Catholics, who remained faithful to their
religion even during the period of persecution which began under Henry
VIII.
They refused to take the Protestant oath and for many years had to
pay hefty fines, sometimes as much as £50,000 a year in terms
of modern currency. But they continued to conduct their services in
the little brick and flint chapel (which is still used to this day)
and they gave shelter to other Catholics, including the Elizabethan
Jesuit Edmund Campion, preacher and pamphleteer, who wrote his tracts
in an upper room at Stonor Park until he was captured and finally
martyred.
Eventually, there came a time when Stonor was too dangerous a refuge,
and many Catholic priests were smuggled up the hill to The Crown and
hidden in the priest's hole (reputably the largest in the country).
One such priest, Father Dominique, met a sticky end whilst hiding
out at The Crown. There are two versions of how and why he died, neither
of which having anything to do with religious persecution. The first
is that he allowed himself to be seduced by a serving wench, Elizabeth,
and overcome with guilt he killed himself. The other is that he tried
to protect the wench from a drunken assailant, and was murdered by
the customer. Whichever version is true, his ghost still haunts The
Crown on the anniversary of his death, but nobody is quite sure when
that is.
Jumping forward several centuries to the 1960s, The Crown gained a
totally different reputation - as the hottest nightspot in Oxfordshire.
The barn was converted into club with its own bar, dancefloor and
stage. It was the first venue in Oxfordshire to be granted a past-midnight
drinks and music licence, and consequently became a favourite hang-out,
with people travelling out from as far away as London to see performers
such as George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Dusty Springfield perform.
Today the barn is used for private functions and still retains a 2am
drinks and music license.
Thanks to Timpson's 'English
Country Inns' |
