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Detail Pages
Cross Keys, Wallingford
Wallingford
OX10 0DB
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Komakino . left this review about Cross Keys
Layout-wise, previous reviews remain accurate, albeit this pub is now owned by Oak Taverns (of the noted Cross Keys in Thame), so it has now had a lick of paint and all Brakspear paraphernalia removed (although they have kept the original sign out back for posterity). Four ales on the tiny bar which included XT 4 (their house ale), Vale Red Kite, Northern Monk Eternal and Siren Lumina - a decent hazy pint for £4.80 (and yes, it was supposed to be served like that). There is a large beer garden to the pub's right as you look at it which abuts the original Wallingford town wall, which dates to Anglo-Saxon times, meaning they can't make any alterations involving digging without the input of English Heritage! Ticking over nicely since the change of hands, this is now in the realms of 'must-visit' if coming to this Thames-side town.
On 21st August 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1075 recommendations about 1075 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Nick Davies left this review about The Cross Keys
The Cross Keys has been standing guard over the west gate of the town for some 250 years now. I can only speak of the last 35 or so but, apart from a rear extension I suspect a time traveller from 1800 would find much that's familiar. Originally a two-roomed affair, public bar to the left, saloon to the right, and with separate entrances onto the street, now enclosed by a porch built sometime after the war. The very traditional public bar leads on to another room up a few stairs used for darts and so on. Passing through the tiny saloon you reach a back room which has seen various uses, currently a sort of TV lounge. There's a garden outside climbing up onto the earthworks that are remains of the town's Saxon fortifications.
It's Brakspear's pub, and before that company's inexcusable decision to cease brewing vied with the Coachmaker's to serve the best beer in town. Now there's just the Wychwood brewed ordinary bitter left from the old days, still an extraordinarily tasty brew given its low gravity and still one of the best pints in Wallingford. The pub has a strong darts following and a couple of football teams are based here. As a community local it's as good as it gets, and should be on any itinerary when visiting the area.
On 2nd January 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 567 recommendations about 559 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Cross Keys
Ancient Brakspears pub just outside the town centre, with a collection of interconnecting rooms over different levels. Three ales - Brakspears Bitter and Oxford Gold, plus Hobgoblin which were a mixed bag, quality-wise. This is an old-style boozer mainly populated by men of a certain character. This is borne out by the bulging cupboard of trophies that the pub has won down the years. The dart board upstairs looked like it gets a lot of action. An intrinsic air of scruffiness and damp pervades, perhaps more down to the age of the building than anything else. We got a ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ from the lady behind the bar which was nice. I’d give this one a go again in the evening as I imagine the atmosphere would be good. Would’ve been a 7 if the ale quality had held up.
On 17th July 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]