Plans to reopen Tolkien and Lewis pub approved

The Eagle and Child pub is owned by the Ellison Institute of Technology

Plans to reopen a pub frequented by two of the 20th Century's most well-known authors, JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, have been approved.

Planning permission and listed building consent have both been granted to restore The Eagle and Child in Oxford, which was built in about 1840.

The Grade II-listed site has been closed since 2020, and is owned by US tech billionaire Larry Ellison's firm, the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT).

Members of The Inklings group, including Tolkien and Lewis, would regularly meet with other academics at the pub.

There is a plaque inside commemorating the writers' get-togethers.

The plans to restore the site have been designed by Foster + Partners, which said the project would adopt a "conservation-led approach to restore and preserve as much of the original building as possible after years of dormancy".

The architects behind the project said it would adopt a "conservation-led approach"

Under the proposals, much of the pub will undergo "light-touch interventions" - including the famous Rabbit Room, where the Inklings group would convene.

A new dining room will also be installed, while the lower levels of two adjacent buildings – 50 and 51 St Giles – will become a café.

Floor space above the pub and cafe will be used as workspace for EIT scholars, staff, and fellows.

Gerard Evenden, from Foster + Partners, said the design "preserves the unique character of The Eagle and Child and respects its many layers of history".

"Our sensitive interventions will create an all-day meeting place by introducing an adjacent café and inspirational workspaces for EIT across the upper levels," he said.

"The scheme is stitched together by a newly landscaped garden and restored passageway between the café and the pub – new social spaces that transition effortlessly from day to night."