29
          
        
        
          CAFES, BARS & CLUBS
        
        
          Queen’s Lane Coffee House
        
        
          stands on the corner of
        
        
          Queen’s Lane and the High
        
        
          Street and has played a
        
        
          part in Oxford’s rich and
        
        
          enchanting history. The cosy,
        
        
          multi-roomed cafe has been
        
        
          serving coffee and comfort
        
        
          food for more than 350 years.
        
        
          It was here, in 1654, Cirques
        
        
          Jobson is said to have started
        
        
          selling the town’s favourite
        
        
          new drink, coffee. Thus,
        
        
          Queen’s Lane Coffee House
        
        
          is reputed to be the oldest
        
        
          coffee house in Europe.
        
        
          During
        
        
          the
        
        
          seventeenth
        
        
          century, the coffee house was
        
        
          a favourite haunt of scholars
        
        
          to debate issues of the times.
        
        
          Close by are The Queen’s
        
        
          College and St Edmund
        
        
          Hall. Not surprisingly, the
        
        
          coffee house is popular with
        
        
          Oxford University and Oxford
        
        
          Brookes University students
        
        
          and tourists. In 2009, the cafe
        
        
          rebranded itself as QL, and
        
        
          now boasts a branch with the
        
        
          same name in Headington.
        
        
          Whatever you choose to
        
        
          call it, there’s no disputing
        
        
          the quality of coffee to be
        
        
          savoured at Queen’s, washed
        
        
          down with centuries’ worth of
        
        
          fascinating history. Come for
        
        
          the fresh coffee, stay for the
        
        
          epic backstory.
        
        
          40 High Street, Oxford, OX1 4AP
        
        
          01865 240082
        
        
        
          QUEEN’S LANE
        
        
          COFFEE HOUSE
        
        
          
            
              QUEENS LANE
            
          
        
        
          
            
              COFFEE HOUSE