The Lamb and Flag (Free House), Lamb and Flag Passage (off St Giles), Oxford. Monday to Saturday 11am to 11pm Sunday 12 noon to 10.30pm Pontus Lurcock writes: Pleasant, comfortable, and often packed in term-time, the Lamb and Flag comprises four rooms, a large fireplace, and a small under-stairs nook big enough for a lonely person to occupy with their pint. The back room---flag-floored, large, and next to the toilets---used to have a vaguely urinal feel to it, but they seem to have fixed that now. (The pub's sturdy stone construction and the chunks of St John's surrounding it also have the benefit of largely blocking mobile phone reception.) They don't take cards; instead they have one of those indoor cash machines which probably charges an outrageous commission. Beers are good: there's Skinner's Betty Stoggs, Shepherd Neame Spitfire, Theakston's Old Peculier, and Lamb and Flag Gold (which I assume is unique to them), plus a guest or two. They run an annual beer festival, but I forget when. (2005-04) Editorial notes: Skinner's Betty Stog's Ale GBP 2.15 (24.iii.2001) This used to be a dark pub with stony walls and wainscoting that did food, run by Courage. Before that it was famous for have underage schoolgirls in here (or so says Peter Harding), but that's changed now. It's all changed now, ever since St John's failed to get it converted into student accommodation and have taken over the running of it. The pub sign is the symbol of John the Baptist. St John's in Oxford is John the Baptist, and St John's in Cambridge is John the Divine. The ceiling has been lowered, so if you're anything much over six foot it'll be a bit difficult to get served, and the stony walls have been stookied and covered in white paint. This doesn't actually make the pub any lighter. Most of the paraphernalia gone, save for the scythe. I don't miss the fag or quiz machines, or the jukebox, but you might. (8.ii.1999) The food has been restored, and there was folk music in here when I went past the other night. Otherwise, it is much the same. Full of people from the Science Area in the early evenings some days. Student accommodation above. (24.iii.2001) Appears in Kate Pugh's Vegan Oxford. 12.iv.2001 / 10.ii.1999