Plans have been submitted to turn a historic pub in Oxford into a large house.

The Chequers on Beaumont Road in Headington Quarry was previously put up on the market for a guide price of £950,000.

It was listed on property website Rightmove as a detached building with the possibility for redevelopment.

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According to the application, the property is no longer viable as business.

Oxford Mail:

The application form states: “Within the property The Chequers Inn as a business has been liquidated and the restaurant/take away is unable to generate enough profitable business to pay their rent.

“There have been a whole range of unprecedented social, political and economic factors that have impacted on pubs and put pressure on pubs including The Chequers Inn.

“The Chequers has struggled to keep up with changing demand and local competition due to its size and format, the business then came out of the pandemic with huge levels of debt, only to be faced with a further changed market in terms of attitudes and behaviours, including many people particularly the elderly still frightened to mix, and others simply establishing different patterns of leisure time use or less socialising outside the family unit.

Oxford Mail:

“There is a huge staffing crisis across the country and locally as hospitality workers have chosen to move into roles less impacted by covid, including growing sectors like distribution/delivery, perhaps also offering more sociable hours.”

The pub has a long history in the area and the building dates back to the early 18th century.

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It is understood that there has been a pub at the site from at least the 1870s onwards.

The Chequers was a principal meeting place for Morris Dancers until the 1980s, but they continue to dance twice a year in the area.

The pub has a sunken garden, sitting about 20 feet below the back of the main building, that was created from a disused stone quarry.

Oxford Mail:

The Chequers has been operated by the same owners for the past 15 years, who now trade five days a week and open in the evenings and weekends only.

There is already a residential area on the first floor with a living room, two bedrooms, a kitchenette and a bathroom.

The planning application was submitted to Oxford City Council on August 23 by Laura Mitchell.

It concerns turning the building from a mixed use public house into a single residential dwelling.

The application is currently under consideration by the council’s planning department and no decision date has yet been set.