Eat and drink · Banbury
Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn, Banbury
A Parsons Street pub that dates itself to 1570 and calls itself Banbury's oldest, a Hook Norton house with the panelled Globe Room of the 1630s, serving food every day from noon to 9pm.
Car-free
If you have one pub in Banbury town centre, make it this one. It pours Hook Norton, and its Globe Room, a 1630s room lined with oak panelling, is the reason to choose it over its neighbours. Food runs all afternoon, which is useful between sights.
- Good: The Globe Room of 1637, in a Grade II* listed building
- Good: Hook Norton cask ale; the pub calls itself the brewery's flagship
- Good: Food from noon to 9pm every day
- Good: In the town centre, about half a mile from the station on the map
- Worth knowing: The pub's site gives no parking, dog or step-free information: ring first
- Worth knowing: The tunnels and Cromwell stories are lore, not record
About
Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn is at 47 Parsons Street, in the old centre of Banbury, a few minutes from Banbury Cross. It spells its name the old way, dates itself to 1570, and calls itself the town's oldest pub. It is one of Millen Inns' pubs and pours Hook Norton, describing itself as the brewery's flagship.
The reason to go in is the Globe Room. The building is listed Grade II*, and Historic England dates the Globe Room to 1637, with seventeenth-century panelling and an interior porch; the pub says the Knight family built it between 1629 and 1637. Its Italianate oak panelling is carved with pillars, shields, scrolls and cherubs. The panelling was sold in 1912 and later came back to the pub, Historic England says, but the honeycomb plaster ceiling of mermaids, flowers and foliage did not: plaster casts of it are in the Victoria and Albert Museum. A door from the room to the garret and cellar is now out of use, and the pub says it is believed to have led to tunnels under the town. It also tells tales of Oliver Cromwell in the room. Treat both as lore.
Food is served from noon to 9pm every day: pub classics such as Hooky-battered cod and chips and a chicken burger. Tables book online. There is a Christmas 2026 menu at £29 for two courses and £35.50 for three.
The pub does not give parking details, so use one of the town's car parks. Banbury Museum and Gallery is the natural pairing on a wet afternoon.
Opening hours and season
Closed, opens Mon 16, 11:00
| Mon | Opening | Food served |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 11:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Tuesday | 11:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Wednesday | 11:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Thursday | 11:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Friday | 11:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Saturday | 11:00 to 23:00 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
| Sunday | 12:00 to 22:00 | 12:00 to 21:00 |
The details
- Food
- Pub classics
- Serving
- Lunch · Dinner
- Features
- Real ale · Restaurant · Bar
- History
- Dates itself to 1570; the Globe Room was built between 1629 and 1637
- Without a car
- Banbury station is about half a mile away on the map, a walk through the town centre.
Photos
Two pints by the fire 
Food from the kitchen 
Eton mess 
The Globe Room
Location
Places to stay nearby
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Nearby walks, places and things to do
- The Old Auctioneer, Banbury 0.0 km away
- The Church House, Banbury 0.1 km away
- Good Game, Banbury 0.1 km away
- The Apothecary Tap, Banbury 0.2 km away
Sights nearby
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Banbury Cross
Sight · Monument · Banbury
The cross of the nursery rhyme stands at the top of Banbury High Street, but it is a Victorian monument of 1858 to 1859, put up about 250 years after the town's medieval crosses were pulled down. Grade II*, free and seen from the street at any time.
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Banbury Market Place
Sight · Historic building · Banbury
The square at the centre of Banbury, where a Thursday market has run since before 1155. The charter market is on every Thursday and Saturday, 9am to 4pm (Cherwell District Council, 2026), among timber-framed houses of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
-
Fine Lady statue, Banbury
Sight · Monument · Banbury
A bronze of the rhyme's fine lady on her white horse, on a Hornton stone plinth where South Bar meets West Bar in Banbury. The people of the town paid for it, and the Princess Royal unveiled it in 2005. Free to see at any time.
-
Spiceball Country Park, Banbury
Sight · Common or park · Banbury
Banbury's largest park, 26 acres split by the River Cherwell with the Oxford Canal along one edge: play area and skate ramps on the town side, woodland walks and nature trails across the wooden bridges. Free, with free parking on Grimsbury Green.