Sir Charles Napier Inn

The Sir Charles Napier Inn (commonly known as the Sir Charles Napier or simply the Charles Napier) is a pub and restaurant in Spriggs Alley near Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England named after Sir Charles Napier and dating from the 18th century. As of 2002 its proprietor for 35 years had been Julie Griffiths. Wine journalist Jancis Robinson has considered it to be one of several country pubs that has "outshone" city pubs.¹ Others have termed it "the godfather of the gastro-pub revolution".² It has been frequented by Ted Hughes and John Mortimer.

History of the business

Kaye Griffiths' family had been farmers in Chinnor for two generations. His father bought the pub, which abuts the family's land, in the 1960s for £4000, and put Kaye's wife, Julie, whose parents had been in the hotel trade, in charge.

Initially, the cook was Kaye, although he was later replaced with a chef named Batiste from Sardinia, who remained chef for 19 years. In the middle 1990s, Kaye became estranged from Julie, and in 1996 he renovated and moved into a cowshed near to the Inn with his son, transferring his interest in the business to his wife. In 2002, Kaye was fined for the renovation and ordered to demolish the cowshed.³

For 10 years the restaurant was run by Stan Parkes, who was then replaced in 1987 by Caroline, Julie's daughter.⁴

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