{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox building | name = The Oxford Bar | image = The Oxford Bar, Edinburgh.jpg | image_caption = | address = Edinburgh, Scotland | coordinates = {{coord|55|57|10.61|N|03|12|19.82|W|region:GB|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | opened_date = 1811 | website = [http://www.oxfordbar.co.uk/ oxfordbar.co.uk] {{Infobox designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Category B | designation1_offname = 8 and 8A Young Street, the Oxford Bar, and 2 Young Street Lane South<ref name="HES">{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB30005 |desc=8 and 8A Young Street, the Oxford Bar, and 2 Young Street Lane South |cat=B |access-date=16 July 2022}}</ref> | designation1_date = {{Start date and age|1966|03|03|df=yes}}<ref name="HES"/> | designation1_number = LB40820<ref name="HES"/> }} }}
'''The Oxford Bar''' is a [[public house]] situated on Young Street, in the [[New Town, Edinburgh|New Town]] of [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]]. The pub is notable for having been featured in [[Ian Rankin|Sir Ian Rankin]]'s [[Inspector Rebus]] series of novels and its adaptations, in which it is protagonist [[John Rebus]]' favourite pub. It is a Category B listed building.<ref name="HES"/><ref name="Slaughter">{{cite book|last1=Slaughter|first1=Michael|title=Scotland's true heritage pubs|date=2007|publisher=CAMRA|location=St. Albans|isbn=9781852492427|page=49}}</ref>
==History== The Oxford Bar apparently became a public house in 1811, although it was a confectioner's shop in 1843.<ref name="HES"/> It was [[disposition (Scots law)|disponed]] on 30 October 1893 to Andrew Wilson, wines and spirits merchant, and thereafter remained a public bar.
The Oxford Bar retains its original compartmentalised form, which many other local bars have lost. Originally consisting of a central corridor with rooms to right and left, the corridor has been opened up to the left with an archway into the small stand-up bar but the original form is still clear.<ref name=HES/>
==Patrons== Several Scottish writers and artists are known to have been patrons of the Oxford Bar, including [[Sydney Goodsir Smith]], Willie Ross and [[Sir Ian Rankin]]. The pub was first immortalised in Smith's ''Carotid Cornucopius''; Rankin later chose it as Rebus' pub as many police officers used to drink there.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2004/jun/13/foodanddrink.features2|title= My favourite pub|publisher= The Observer|date= 13 June 2004|accessdate= 16 June 2009 | location=London | first=Chloe | last=Diski}}</ref>. In ''Dirty Work: Ian Rankin and John Rebus Book-By-Book'', Ray Dexter and Nadine Carr note that The Oxford Bar would be an improbable local for Rebus due to its geographical location.<ref name="DexterCarr2015">{{cite book|author1=Ray Dexter|author2=Nadine Carr|title=Dirty Work: Ian Rankin and John Rebus Book-By-Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t4euCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA144|date=18 September 2015|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-1-326-41521-1|page=144}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}
Other visitors to the bar have included actor [[Sean Connery|Sir Sean Connery]] and author [[Colin Dexter]].<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.scotsman.com/obituaries/John-Gates.4503021.jp|title= John Gates: Former landlord of the Oxford Bar, Edinburgh|publisher= The Scotsman|date= 18 September 2008|accessdate= 16 June 2009}}</ref> [[Michael Palin|Sir Michael Palin]] visited in 1978 and mentions being impressed by it in his diary, ''The Python Years''.
[[Quintin Jardine]]'s 2009 Bob Skinner novel, ''Fatal Last Words'', also mentions The Oxford Bar considerably, again due to the connection with the local police force drinking there. There are a few other nods to Rankin too.
In August 2024, television presenter [[Lorraine Kelly]]'s visit made local headlines.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Borland |first=Ben |date=2024-08-22 |title=Oxford Bar: From Rebus to Lorraine Kelly, the story of Edinburgh's 'proper pub' |url=https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/celebrity-news/oxford-bar-inspector-rebus-lorraine-33516374 |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=Scottish Daily Express |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-30 |title=The Oxford Bar – What's happened? |url=https://edinburghpubreviews.substack.com/p/oxford-bar-repost |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=Edinburgh Pub Reviews}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.edinburghpubguide.co.uk/PubDetails/Oxford_Bar_118.html The Oxford Bar at Edinburgh Pub Guide] {{Commercial buildings in Edinburgh}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford Bar, The}} [[Category:Tourist attractions in Edinburgh]] [[Category:Pubs in Edinburgh]] [[Category:Edinburgh in fiction]] [[Category:Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh]] [[Category:Listed pubs in Scotland]]