Welcome to The Oxenham Arms Hotel - About us
The Oxenham Arms is without question one of Englands most famous and old coaching inns and has the most fascinating history of any inn anywhere in the world. Around 1000 years before Stonehenge, Neolithic people carved the enormous granite South Zeal Menhir Standing Stone and inset it here. The Stone still exists today within our Snug Bar exactly as it looked 4,500 years ago.
In the mid 1100's King Henry 1st gave this parish of South Tawton ( Tautonia in the Domesday Book ) to his daughter Constance. ( Constance of England ). Constance was born in France but lived in this parish and married Roscelind de Beaumont. Constance gave funding for the establishment of a monastery in the Parish. She provided the funding and also bequeathed her body upon her death to the parish. South Tawton became one of the Royal One Hundreds of England.
In the mid 1100's Bendictine Monks built the monastery around the South Zeal Menhir Standing Stone, the original monastery today still forms the main centre, upper 1st floor, hotel guest rooms and rear of the building as you see it today. The entire building was constructed of granite and oak. The walls are between 5 feet and 15 feet thick.
All of the building behind the arched oak 850 year old door in the cloisters passageway is the original monastery building on the ground floor also. The original monastery gardens and our 4 acres of grounds are still intact at the rear, which provide stunning views of Dartmoor.
The Burgoyne Family purchased the monastery estate after the monks moved on in the 1300's. They constructed the beautiful cut block grantite frontage onto the front of the original monastery. This is described by English Heritage as the most beautiful facade of any building of its period in Devon.
The Burgoynes and their descendants are buried in the church in South Tawton, where the Burgoyne Monument is located, graphically describing the 5 generations of the family and their passing. The buildingh became known as The Burgoyne Manor and still is described as such in many documents. Above the coach house doors is inscribed a B and a V. B for William Burgoyne the great grandson of William Burgoyne who arrived with King William 1st ( The Conqueror ) in 1066 and V for Margaret Vielle whome he married when the building became The Burgoyne Manor.
In 1451, 2 Earls, William and John Oxenham purchased the Manor and Estate, forming The Oxenham Manor. In the great plague in 1475. The Oxenham Manor was on the main road from Exeter to Plymouth, so the Oxenhams moved out and leased the manor house out as an Inn. It gained its licence in 1477.
The Oxenhams still held the estate and were Lords of this manor. In 1530, the famous sea captain, Captain John Oxenham was born here. He gave the Oxenham Arms its name and is depicted in Charles Kingsleys book.. Westward Ho, after which the beach resort on the North Devon coast was eventually named in his honour. Captain John Oxenham was the first navigator for the entire English Fleet under Sir Francis Drake. Drake and Oxenham sailed on 88 missions together, stealing gold and silver from the Spanish primarily in South American waters. Oxenham was the first English Sea Captain to sail in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Oxenham was eventually caught by the Spanish and was tried and put to his death by hanging in Lima Peru in October 1580.
He died at 50 years of age.
The Oxenham Arms has been included in 100's of literary works over the many centuries, historical items normally trade on Ebay and auction websites around the world. In coming to visit us you are in fine company. Charles Dickens stayed here and wrote much of his Pickwick Papers, Admiral Lord Nelson, Sabine Baring-Gould who wrote Onward Christian Soldiers used our Chagford Room as his summer residence. You will find various signs around the building where more recent famous people have sat and had a bite to eat and a drink or two, including the King of England, King Charles III.
Our 1477 bar, is the same bar today that all the people described above had a drink or two in and has proudly been serving fine food, ales, wines and spirits for just over 546 years.
We cant promise you much other than, if you visit us, we can guarantee you'll come back again !
Welcome Ye All - To The Ancient Oxenham Arms at South Zeal