A medieval Cotswolds inn said to have been pouring pints since 1384 has hit the market for £950,000, offering a rare freehold chance to revive one of England’s most storied village hostelries.
Inside the oldest licensed inns in the country, a 640‑year‑old Cotswolds inn on sale for £950k
The Shaven Crown, in Shipton‑under‑Wychwood, is a Grade II‑listed building originally constructed by the monks of nearby Bruern Abbey as a hospice for pilgrims and the poor.
After Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, the inn passed to the Crown and was later used as a royal hunting lodge before Queen Elizabeth I reportedly gave it back to the village on the condition it continued as an inn, with income supporting local relief.
That lineage is baked into the fabric: the property retains a 14th‑century gateway, Tudor door, cobbled floors, mullioned windows and a double‑braced roof structure in its medieval Great Hall.
The name “Shaven Crown” itself references the monks’ tonsure, and the inn sign shows a monk with a shaven crown.
What’s on offer in the £950k sale
Marketed by Colliers as a freehold sale with vacant possession, the inn is currently closed.
The listing highlights:
- Eight guest bedrooms
- Multiple public trading areas centred on the Great Hall
- A commercial kitchen
- Courtyard and gardens
- Customer parking
- A spacious three‑bedroom owner’s flat
Previous owners invested heavily in the fabric of the building, with one refurbishment package reported at around £600,000 between 2013 and 2019, including works to the roof and core infrastructure to preserve its historic character while enabling future hospitality use.
A royal (and controversial) guest list at The Shaven Crown
The Shaven Crown’s long history has attracted high‑profile stays. It is said to have hosted Queen Elizabeth I in its royal hunting lodge phase, and later, in 1943, Sir Oswald Mosley, the former leader of the British Union of Fascists, stayed there after his release from internment.
Where it sits in the Cotswolds pub market
At £950,000, The Shaven Crown is priced as a premium, heritage‑led inn with rooms. Recent nearby listings show the spread of opportunities:
- The Royal Oak (Tetbury/Cirencester Road), visited by King Charles III, was listed at £925,000.
- The Black Horse in Salford near Chipping Norton remains on at £550,000 after closure.
- The Horse and Radish in Minster Lovell, near Jeremy Clarkson’s Farmer’s Dog, was reduced to £650,000 before going under offer.
- The former Bakers Arms, a 17th‑century pub converted to an Indian restaurant, was listed at £265,000 with potential residential value noted.
Against that backdrop, The Shaven Crown’s combination of eight rooms, multiple trading spaces, and a three‑bed owner’s flat helps justify its upper‑mid‑range price tag for a buyer targeting a destination inn model.
The “oldest inn in England” debate
The Shaven Crown is described as “among the oldest licensed inns in the country”, with a documented history of serving pints since 1384. That gives it a strong 640‑year claim to being one of England’s oldest pubs.
But the “oldest inn” title is contested. Other Cotswolds properties, such as Stow‑on‑the‑Wold’s Porch House and the former Royalist Hotel, have long been linked to 10th‑century origins (947 AD) and Guinness Book of Records authentication in past decades.
Some sources also place The Shaven Crown among the “ten oldest inns in England” rather than a single record‑holder.
