Eat and drink · Cropredy
The Brasenose Arms, Cropredy
A 17th-century inn on Station Road in Cropredy, with four refurbished bed and breakfast rooms, a bar and garden, and its own music fringe alongside Fairport's Cropredy Convention each August. The pub says it is the only one in the country with the name.
The pub to stay at or drink in if you are in Cropredy, and the place to be in the festival week, when it runs its own fringe. Book months ahead for that weekend, or avoid it if you came for a quiet canal lunch. It opens from 11.30am every day.
- Good: Open every day from 11.30am
- Good: Four refurbished B&B rooms in the village
- Good: Its own music fringe in Convention week
- Good: Bar and garden, with seasonal menus
- Worth knowing: Convention week fills the village: expect rooms to go early
- Worth knowing: Beers, dogs and parking are not on the page we read: ask
About
The Brasenose Arms is on Station Road in Cropredy, about four miles north of Banbury by the pub's reckoning. By its own account it began as three cottages and became a pub in the late 17th century, on land bought from Brasenose College, and it says it is the only pub in the country with the name.
The bed and breakfast has four refurbished rooms, and meals are served in the dining room and the bar and garden, from seasonal menus. It opens from 11.30am to 10.30pm from Monday to Saturday and to 10pm on Sunday.
In August it runs The Brasenose Fringe alongside Fairport's Cropredy Convention: listings gave the 2026 Fringe as 13 to 16 August, and no 2027 dates had been announced when we checked. The story behind the college's name, of a brass nose-shaped door knocker carried to Stamford and brought back in 1890, is a good one, and the pub tells it as the most likely explanation rather than a settled fact.
Opening hours and season
| Monday | 11:30 to 22:30 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 11:30 to 22:30 |
| Wednesday | 11:30 to 22:30 |
| Thursday | 11:30 to 22:30 |
| Friday | 11:30 to 22:30 |
| Saturday | 11:30 to 22:30 |
| Sunday | 11:30 to 22:00 |
The details
- Rooms
- 4
- Features
- Garden or terrace · Bar · Restaurant · Live music
Photos
A bedroom 
A starter from the kitchen 
Steak and fries 
Fish and chips
Location
Places to stay nearby
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The Brasenose Arms, Cropredy
Pubs · Cropredy
A 17th-century inn on Station Road in Cropredy, with four refurbished bed and breakfast rooms, a bar and garden, and its own music fringe alongside Fairport's Cropredy Convention each August. The pub says it is the only one in the country with the name.
Verified Nov 2026
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The Three Pigeons, Banbury
Pubs · Banbury
A Grade II listed 17th-century inn, partly thatched, on Southam Road, Banbury, with real ales and ciders, a courtyard, Smash Cow street food from Thursday to Saturday and three en-suite rooms.
Dog-friendly · Car-free
Verified Nov 2026
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Whately Hall Hotel, Banbury
Hotel · Banbury
A Grade II listed 17th-century inn, now a 71-room hotel on Horse Fair in the middle of Banbury, with gardens, an oak-panelled restaurant and six EV chargers.
Dog-friendly · Family-friendly · Wedding venues
Verified Nov 2026
Nearby walks, places and things to do
- The Hare and Hounds, Wardington 2.4 km away
- Greenhouse Cafe, Wardington 2.7 km away
- The George and Dragon, Chacombe 3.7 km away
- The Griffin Inn, Chipping Warden 4.0 km away
Sights nearby
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Cropredy Bridge battlefield
Sight · Monument · Cropredy
The registered battlefield of 29 June 1644, where Charles I's army beat Sir William Waller's across the Cherwell meadows at Cropredy. Farmland now, seen from the bridge, public footpaths and the Battlefields Trust's trail.
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Cropredy Bridge
Sight · Bridge · Cropredy
The bridge over the River Cherwell at Cropredy, north of Banbury, where a royalist army beat Sir William Waller on 29 June 1644. This is a 1937 rebuild faced in old Hornton stone, with an inscription on its south side. Free to see at any time.
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Arbury Banks, Chipping Warden
Sight · Hill fort or barrow · Chipping Warden
The low bank of a probable Iron Age enclosure, and the ridge and furrow around it, on a hill south-west of Chipping Warden. A scheduled monument on private farmland, mostly ploughed, seen from public footpaths nearby.
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Hanwell Castle
Sight · Historic building · Hanwell
The surviving tower and range of a Tudor brick courtyard house built for the Cope family at Hanwell, north of Banbury. Grade II*, diapered in red and blue brick, and private: the grounds open on a few event days, such as the February snowdrop weekend.