5 Duke Street
What Three Words: ///earmarked.
On the corner of Duke Street and King’s Street is an 18th century building that became, in 1857, the home of Kingdon House Academy, a boarding school. Ten years later the school moved to Norway House, in Quay Street, and the original Kingdon House was bought by Samuel Sampson for use as an inn. Given the name of the Royal Oak in 1881, it was run by William and Mary Burton from 1891 into the first decades of the 20th century. During the 1920s it was run by Richard Eyres and then by town crier Stan Philip, and it was at some point acquired by St Austell Breweries. After Stan Philip’s ten-year tenancy, management passed to William John Marshall. Long-term tenants in the 1950s and 1960s were Reg Crebo, and Eddie and Lottie Carhart, who extended the licence from six days to seven and extended the opening hours until 9.00pm.
The Royal Oak is a common pub name referring to the oak tree in Boscobel Wood, Shropshire, where Charles Stuart (later King Charles II) hid from the parliamentary army after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. As this pub was named in 1881, it is likely that the naming did not indicate any significant royalist identification.
The 1970s and 1980s saw various changes in tenancy and an extension was added to the building. The longest serving tenants were Ellen and Malcolm Hine, who ran the pub from 1988 to 2005. In 2005 the pub was acquired by Punch Taverns, but it was bought by Graham Tobias and Simon Elliott in 2014.
Graham and Simon run a free house serving St Austell and Sharp’s beers and offering sports TV, karaoke, and, on Saturdays, live music in the bar. Good food is served in the bar and lounge. The Royal Oak has 6 comfortable rooms for accommodation.
Walk up Duke Street to the junction with Bodmin Hill to