Maps:
The Trout at Godstow. Central weir stream 01865 554 485
For the Trout Inn, take the weir stream
below Godstow Lock.
Map: St Edward's School Boathouse
Take the left turn so that St Edwards School Boathouse is on your right, moor on the right before the foot bridge.
Map:The Trout
This section in The Stripling Thames by Fred Thacker
The Trout is said to be 12th century in origin and related to Godstow Nunnery.
1662: The Trout Inn 'popular with undergraduates'
1720: The Trout Inn extended.
1737: The Trout Inn rebuilt by Jeremiah Bishop, Landlord.
1808: Letters from England by Robert Southey -
... we started soon after six, and went by water, rowing up the main stream of the Isis, between level shores : in some places they were overhung with willows or alder- bushes, in others the pasture extended to the brink; rising ground was in view on both sides. Large herds of cattle were grazing in these rich meadows, and plovers in great numbers wheeling over head. The scenery was not remarkably beautiful, but it is always delightful to be upon a clear stream of fresh water in a fine summer day. We ascended the river about a league to Godstow, where we breakfasted at a little ale-house by the water-side.
1822: The Etonian, TO FREDERICK GOLIGHTLY, ESQ. -
M....... College, Tuesday Evening.
MY DEAR GOLIGHTLY ...
Sterling stepped in at One, to ask me if I would take a row up the river to Godstow.
Leaped at the proposal.
Embarked by Worcester College, and had a most delightful voyage.
We rested half an hour on our oars opposite the Port Meadow,
to take a view of the Archer-Club and their exploits.
Dined at the Pothouse near the Abbey Ruins upon fried eels.
Mem. To detail the whole expedition in a letter to Montgomery.
It will give him a subject for a Sonnet.
Returned to Oxford about Seven, and hurried to the Christ Church Meadows,
to see the boat-race between the Brazen-Nose and Jesus.
The former won the day by a foot or two.
Eton and Westminster support their reputation on the Isis.
The stroke is rather in favour of the latter:
our men pull too quick;
— the stream is nothing here, comparatively speaking.
On leaving this animated scene, for both banks were crowded with spectators,
who testified their enthusiasm by their clamours,
we found the tea things laid in Sterling's room; ...
1870: The Trout at Godstow, Henry Taunt -
The Trout at Godstow, Henry Taunt, 1870
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; HT1058
Gascoigne Mackie -
GODSTOW
AND once we rowed together up the river
To many-gated Godstow, where the stream
Splits, and upon a tongue of land there stands
An Inn with willow bowers : it is a spot
Where still the flavour of old Merry England
Lingers : And softly flowed the silver Thames
Beside the garden, while we fed the fish.
There 'mid the twilight and the trellised roses
We sang the ballad of fair Rosamund :
And when at last we loosed the boat, we saw
Above the ruined Nunnery where she sleeps
A star : and from the reeds a mournful gust
Whispered and rippled round the shallow prow
And passed : and all was quiet. At that moment
The Mighty Mother touched me, and I felt
The first strong throb of that which rules me still.
1880: The Trout at Godstow, Henry Taunt -
The Trout at Godstow, Henry Taunt, 1880
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; HT3474
1909: The Stripling Thames, Fred Thacker -
One of the alluring glimpses of Thames scenery is the vista of wood and meadow and stream up the wide Trout backwater. They say you can avoid two tolls by voyaging therealong and coming out just above King's Weir; but it is barely worth while, considering the terribly hard going ...
1909: Advertisement -
1909 Advertisement for The Trout at Godstow.
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; troutad
In 'Oxford' by Frederick Douglas How -
Who has not heard of Port Meadow - the town's meadow, as the name infers?
Low it lies on the river bank to the north-west of the town. For
hundreds of years - since the time, indeed, of the Domesday Book - it
has belonged to the freemen of Oxford, and to-day may still be seen
their flocks of geese, white patterned on a ground of green, with here
and there a horse with tired feet ending his days where grass is soft
and plentiful.
The Isis, the Upper River as here it is commonly called,
has a special beauty as it flows along the edge of Port Meadow, for
above it hang the Witham woods, and on its edge is the little hamlet of
Binsey, giving a touch of human interest and rural picturesqueness to
the scene.
It is worth while to row or sail against the stream until the
whole of the meadow is passed by, for then comes Godstow, where Fair
Rosamond found refuge, and where she was at last laid to rest.
It must in all honesty be confessed that to the average undergraduate the place
was reckoned desirable, not so much on account of the historical
interest just mentioned, as because, after a long pull up the river on a
summer afternoon, it was possible to obtain at the little inn upon the
river bank what was euphemistically called "eel tea", a meal which, as a
matter of fact, consisted of stewed eels washed down by unlimited
libations of cider-cup!
1911: The Trout at Godstow, W Parker -
The Trout at Godstow, W Parker, 1911
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; D230386a
1922: Henry Taunt -
A summer afternoon with tea and dinner at the Trout at Godstow, with a stroll around the Abbey and to Wytham, is a red letter day in one's life to be repeated at the earliest opportunity.
1930: The Trout at Godstow, Dr A H Church -
The Trout at Godstow, Dr A H Church, 1930
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; D213610a
The Trout at Godstow.
1992: Skyscan's Aerial View of the Trout in The Secret Thames -
Skyscan's Aerial View of The Trout at Godstow.
[ Don't let anyone tell you you can't go under the footbridge into the weir pool.
You have the right to navigate and anchor wherever Thames water flows.
However, it may not be safe, the current may be swift
and there may be a lot of spectators to witness
your discomfiture if you misjudge your turn. You do not necessarily have the right
to tie up and land. No mooring above the footbridge. ]
Edith, Lorina and Alice Liddell, and Charles Dodgson and Robinson Duckworth had tea on the bank, and Charles began to tell a story -
Alice was beginning to get very tired of
sitting by her sister on the bank and of having nothing to do:
once or twice she had peeped into the book
her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversation in it,
"and what is the use of a book," thought Alice,
"without pictures or conversations?"
So she was considering in her own mind (as well
as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid) whether the
pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and
picking the daisies, when suddenly ...
a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her ...
Listen to 'The telling of Alice in Wonderland' -
All in the golden afternoon
Full leisurely we glide;
For both our oars, with little skill,
By little arms are plied,
While little hands make vain pretence
Our wanderings to guide.
Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour
Beneath such dreamy weather,
To beg a tale of breath too weak
To stir the tiniest feather!
Yet what can one poor voice avail
Against three tongues together?
Imperious Prima flashes forth
Her edict "To begin it" -
In gentler tone Secunda hopes
"There will be nonsense in it!" -
While Tertia interrupts the tale
Not more than once a minute.
Anon, to sudden silence won,
In fancy they pursue
The dream-child moving through a land
Of wonders wild and new,
In friendly chat with bird or beast -
And half believe it true.
And ever, as the story drained
The wells of fancy dry,
And faintly strove that weary one
To put the subject by,
"The rest next time -", "It is next time!"
The happy voices cry.
Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:
Thus slowly, one by one,
Its quaint events were hammered out
And now the tale is done,
And home we steer, a merry crew,
Beneath the setting sun.
Alice! A childish story take,
And with a gentle hand
Lay it where Childhood's dreams are twined
In Memory's mystic band,
Like pilgrim's wither'd wreath of flowers
Pluck'd in a far-off land.
John Betjeman came here as a boy on a school trip, Summoned by Bells -
… The skiffs were moored above the lock,
They bumped each other side to side:
I boarded one and made her rock –
“Shut up, you fool,” a master cried.
By reed and rush and alder-bush
See soon our long procession glide.
There is a world of water weed
Seen only from a shallow boat:
Deep forests of the bladed reed
Whose wolves are rats of slimy coat,
Whose yellow lily-blossoms need
Broad leaves to keep themselves afloat.
A heaving world, half-land, half-flood;
It rose and sank as ripples rolled,
The hideous larva from the mud
Clung to a reed with patient hold,
Waiting to break its sheath and make
An aeroplane of green and gold.
The picnic and the orchid hunt,
On Oxey Mead the rounders played,
The belly-floppers from the punt,
The echoes that our shouting made:
The rowing back, relaxed and slack,
The shipping oars in Godstow shade …
(Upstream to GODSTOW LOCK)
Introduction
Estuary
PLA
QEII Br
Barrier
Tower Br
Custom Ho
London Br
; Frost Fairs
Cannon St Rb
The Great Stink
Southwark Br
Millenium Br
Blackfriars Rb
Blackfriars Br
Waterloo Br
Charing Cross Rb
Westminster Br
Lambeth Br
Vauxhall Br
Victoria Rb
Chelsea Br
Albert Br
Battersea Br
Battersea Rb
Wandsworth Br
Fulham Rb
Putney Br
Hammersmith Br
Barnes Rb
Chiswick Br
Kew Rb
Kew Br
RICHMOND
Twickenham Br
Richmond Rb
Richmond Br
TEDDINGTON
Kingston Rb
Kingston Br
Ditton Slip
Hampton Br
MOLESEY
SUNBURY
Walton Br
Desborough Cut
SHEPPERTON
Chertsey Br
CHERTSEY
M3 Br
Laleham Slip
PENTON HOOK
Staines Rb
Staines Br
Runnymede Br
BELL WEIR
Magna Carta Is
OLD WINDSOR
Albert Br
Datchet
Victoria Br
Black Potts Rb
ROMNEY
Eton
Windsor Br
Windsor Rb
Windsor Slip
Elizabeth Br
BOVENEY
Dorney Lake
York Cut
Summerleaze Fb
MonkeyIsland
New Thames Br
BRAY
Bray Slip
Maidenhead Rb
Maidenhead Br
Below Boulters
BOULTERS
Cliveden
Hedsor
COOKHAM
Cookham Slip
Cookham Br
BourneEnd RFb
Quarry Woods
A404 Br
MARLOW
Marlow Br
Bisham
TEMPLE
HURLEY
Medmenham
Culham Ct
Aston Slip
HAMBLEDEN
Temple Is
Fawley Ct
Remenham
Regatta
Phyllis Ct
Henley Slip
Leander
Red Lion
Henley Br
Angel on Br
Landing
Hobbs Boatyard
Hobbs Slipway
MARSH
Hennerton
Bolney
Wargrave
Shiplake Rb
R.Loddon
SHIPLAKE
Sonning Br
SONNING
Dreadnought
K&A Canal
CAVERSHAM
Reading Br
Caversham Br
Reading Slip
Purley
MAPLEDURHAM
Hardwick Ho
Whitchurch Br
WHITCHURCH
Hartswood Reach
Gatehampton Rb
Goring Gap
Goring Br
GORING
Swan
CLEEVE
Moulsford
Moulsford Rb
Papist Way Slip
Winterbrook Br
Wallingford Br
BENSON
Shillingford Br
R.Thame
DAYS
Burcot
Clifton Hampden
Clifton Church
Clifton H Br
Barley Mow
Long Wittenham
CLIFTON
Appleford Rb
Sutton Courtenay
Sutton Br
CULHAM
Culham Cut Fb
Abingdon Slip
Abingdon
Abingdon Br
ABINGDON
Nuneham Rb
Nuneham
Nuneham Park
Radley Boats
SANDFORD
Rose Island
Kennington Rb
Isis Br
Iffley Mill
IFFLEY
Oxford Rowing
Isis
Donnington Br
Riverside Slip
Boathouses
Punting
Lower Cherwell
Upper Cherwell
Islip
Head of River
Salters Steamers
Folly Br
Bacons Folly
Oxford Fb
Osney Fb
Weir stream
Osney Rb
Bullstake Stream
Osney Marina
OSNEY
Osney Br
Four Rivers
OLD RIVER
CANAL
Medley Weir Site
Medley Fb
Bossoms
Perch
Trout
GODSTOW
Godstow Nunnery
Godstow Br
Thames Br
KINGS
River Evenlode
EYNSHAM
Swinford Br
Oxford Cruisers
PINKHILL
Farmoor
Stanton Harcourt
Bablock Slip
Arks Weir Site
NORTHMOOR
Harts Fb
Rose Revived
Newbridge
Maybush
River Windrush
below Shifford
SHIFFORD
Shifford Fb
Tenfoot Fb
Trout Inn
Tadpole Br
RUSHEY
Old Mans Fb
RADCOT
Radcot Cradle Fb
Swan Inn
Radcot New Br
Radcot Old Br
GRAFTON
Eaton Hastings
Kelmscott
Eaton Fb
BUSCOT
Bloomers Hole Fb
Trout Inn
St Johns Br
ST JOHNS
Halfpenny Br
Marina Slip
LIMIT
Inglesham
Hannington Br
Kempsford
Castle Eaton Br
Marston Meysey
A419 Br
Cricklade
SOURCE?
THAMES HEAD
SEVEN SPRINGS