Overview

This is one of Englands oldest coaching inns, dating from the 13th century, with stone walls, oak beams and open fireplaces, lovely staircases, little passages and corridors, With old paintings and engravings which are seen throughout the hotel. In 1279 a Robert Marshall owned a plot of land by the church, and it seems that by the 16th century, it was an inn, owned by innkeeper Jerome Westall. During 1593, it is known the name The Bear was in use for the inn or tavern owned by William Rayer. On his death, his son, Thomas Rayer had control, at that that time the inn had nine hearths and open fires. The inn then became the property of the Fennymore family, who were wealthy maltsters. Interestingly, the tenant from 1690 to 1720 was a Thomas Green, nicknamed “jockey” and the inn was used by the Woodstock racing members. The inn had at least 15 bedrooms by now. Then followed rebuilding work in 1728, but soon after this it closed, and it seems it may have remained unused as property until 1751, as indication show that timber and stone from the property was being sold off, but a Bernard Cross took over , but by 1757-58 his son Charles Cross became the owner, and the Bear again became a prominent coaching inn. However, he became bankrupt in 1789 and the inn was sold to the Duke of Marlborough. This family held the inn and by now there were 25 bedrooms and stables for 60 horses. By the 1820.s there were enough beds for 50 guests, and now, 80 horses, and it was the busiest of the coaching inns, and Blenheim coach company used it as its starting point. Then in the 20th century it was Woodstocks main hotel. During the 16th century, glove making was Woodstocks main industry, and sheep and deer hide gloves were being sawn by local women in their homes, as well as factory workers in the town. This legacy can be seen in the Bear hotel, with a nice display of gloves to view as you walk through the archway and up to reception area over to the left of the courtyard, as part of this hotel used to be a glove workshop, operating as late as 1974. There is a lovely but small open courtyard once through the archway, and it’s a pleasant place to enjoy a cool drink on warm sunny days. Another tradition has been kept at the back of the hotel grounds, and it’s that of bee keeping, and the resident bee keeper collects this honey to be used in the hotels restaurant. During the colder months you may sit indoors in the bar area, by a roaring fire, with wooden chairs and tables, quite a nice place to relax with a glass in hand. To enhance its past, the hotel still offers that sense of history, which can be seen in its deco throughout, although some may feel it’s lost its grandness of times past and lives on its old reputation, but it’s position in the village still makes it worth visiting, so let’s see what the hotel offers us today. OUR REVIEW Try to find a parking spot close to Market place and town hall (photo 1). Then across the street stands The Bear hotel, alongside quaint 15th century cottages and the church on Park street (2). To get into the hotel, use the entrance through the archway (3) as it’s nice and level (4) which brings you to a delightful courtyard, which is a nice place to sit on sunny days. (5). There are two entrances for you now, over to the left of courtyard is the reception, (6) and over to the right hand corner is the narrow door (which we could just get our wheelchair through) for the bar and restaurant. (7) There is a lovely entrance hall inside, BUT MIND the small step down into the corridor (8) with bay windows of what may have been little shops, as they still are today but only window shopping. This leads to the bar area, quite attractive but very plain (9) with a lovely log fire which gave out warmth on this cold February day, There’s plenty of room for your wheelchair (10) as you settle in to choose your drink of the day (11). Coming out, unfortunately, there is no lift in this graded building, only the staircase to the bedrooms (12). Opposite is a very appealing restaurant, inviting, with a huge stone fireplace (13) and it’s beautifully set out, plenty of room between tables, (14) and set in the brickwork walls, the sort of room you want to go into for dinner as it has charm and character (15). OUR FINAL THOUGHTS It’s worth a visit to this 13th century inn, a beautiful place in parts inside, but it’s lost its old appeal of years gone bye according to some, and we were disappointed the restaurant was not open during the winter months for lunch, but you can get snacks and light dishes in the plain unattractive bar area, but it’s warm in there at least. However, we feel this is not really a wheelchair friendly hotel, the door into bar and restaurant is rather narrow, our wheelchair just got in, and we feel a wider chair of any kind may struggle , and then there is a small step to get down. My husband could at least get up off chair while I pushed it down, then got in again to get to bar area, which was on the flat at least. The upstairs bedrooms have charm of sorts according to photos we have seen, but they all looked smallish, and although decorated out with historical appeal, there’s no way a disabled person could use them. Dissapointing I,m afraid, we were looking forward to more, but it’s in an ideal spot for visiting Woodstock, ( as our other review of Woodstock will show you ) So we cannot really recommend this hotel for you.

Transport & Parking

The hotel has its own small car park at rear of hotel, with £10.00 overnight charge during 2022. A narrow side lane just before The Bear takes you round the back. Street parking is hard to get a spot, and main car park for Woodstock is some distance away.

Access

Although an interesting hotel, it is not really wheelchair friendly, with a small step from the front or rear entry into the bar or restaurant, there is no lift, and stairs are narrow and twisting in some parts, no way can a disabled person use them. If you can manage the small steps, it’s worth trying, so as to see the hotels main facilities, but we found details of the bedrooms in general to be old, small and not all that inspiring, so I never made the effort to try steps, my husband could never make it.

Toilets

Forgot to look at toilets

Staff

The young ladies that served us drinks were very nice and quietly friendly, and looked after us well. We did not meet any other.

Photos