Banbury town centre pub re-opens after refurbishment

Officials with Gamechanger Pubs stand outside The Wine Vault pub in town centre Banbury

Gamechanger Pubs has finished phase one of its refurbishment projects for the Parson Street pub, The Wine Vaults, in the town centre of Banbury.

The Wine Vaults will host The Red Onions, a local cover band, on Saturday night.

Phase one has focused on internal works and included a full refit of the toilets, and redecoration throughout the pub. The pub closed for phase one from Sunday February 23 and reopened Friday February 28.

Matthew Cummings Coules, director of the Gamechanger Pub Co., who runs The Wine Vaults pub, said: “The Wine Vaults has always been a much loved pub by both our team and our customers. We had an extensive refurbishment two years ago where we opened up the internal space, and installed a large glass canopy in the garden.

"Its been a phenomenal two years for the venue. With the extra space we’ve been able to host local bands and DJ’s every Friday and Saturday night and a local Jazz jam on a Tuesday. However, with the increasing number of people using the venue we were keen to carry out maintenance work to improve our customer experience."

The pub started work last week on phase two of the refurbishments, which are now about halfway completed. The pub will not need to shut for phase two as it mostly involves outside works.

Mr Cummings Coules added: "Phase two is a really exciting project for us. We are planning to use the old outbuildings to create an amazing outside space which will accommodate an extra 45 covers in the garden and a fully stocked and serviceable outside bar."

They're aiming have the phase two outdoor expansion completed by early April.

The Wine Vaults is famed throughout Banbury for being owned by the Bennet family who originally imported wine from Australia to be sold throughout the UK. The Wine Vaults was originally the Bennet families residence.

It's believed that the original structure of the outbuilding was used to bottle the wine that was imported in barrels from Australia, that could then be drawn out by horse and cart and loaded onto canal boats for transport around the country.

Mr Cummings Coules added: "With such a rich history we aim to use a design that is sympathetic to the age and character of the building continuing its traditional trade and providing a great venue for Banbury."