Banbury pub has been included in a national guide of the best historic pubs in the country

The Ye Olde Reindeer Inn in Banbury has been included in a national guide of the best historic pubs in the country.

The pub features alongside 11 other pubs representing Oxfordshire in Real Heritage Pubs of the South East, published by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

This is further good news for the inn, which will be reopening on July 4 after weeks of lockdown due to Covid-19 restrictions.

In the book, the Ye Olde Reindeer Inn in Banbury is described as an historic inn that may have originated in the 15th century, with a timber-framed structure that was extended in the early/mid-16th century and has a wonderful panelled back room.

The guide also includes a section on the past breweries of Oxfordshire. Other counties covered are Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, the Isle of Wight, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and East and West Sussex.

A CAMRA spokesperson said: "Listings range from unspoilt country delights and old coaching inns to cosy Victorian locals and little-known pubs from the inter-war and post-war periods.

"Illustrated with high-quality photography throughout, this book allows you to experience first-hand the pub history of the South East while doing your bit to help protect a vital part of the region’s heritage." 

Editor and historic pubs expert Geoff Brandwood said: “As a period of great uncertainty for the nation’s pubs hopefully comes to a close, it’s a real delight to release the final instalment of the Real Heritage Pub guide series.

“This guide highlights the best-preserved pubs across the South East region, allowing you experience pub history even if you’re unable to visit them in person right now. It also champions the need to celebrate, understand and protect the genuine pub heritage we have left, and revenue raised from the title goes back into CAMRA campaigning.”

Every listing in the guide includes a pub description, highlighting its special features and the address, contact details and information about the availability of real ale, real cider and food.

As well as the Ye Olde Reindeer Inn, the guide also features:

Punchbowl, Abingdon, whose centuries-old panelling gives the Oak Room a genuinely historic ambience for a relaxed pint

King’s Arms, claimed as Oxford’s oldest pub, built in 1607, though rebuilt in the eighteenth century, hence its Georgian appearance

North Star in Steventon, a real time-warp where the sense of a simple Victorian village pub can still be experienced

Peyton Arms in Stoke Lyne, a gloriously simple country local within a pair of early-nineteenth-century stone-built properties and which once incorporated the village shop