The Lighthouse in Oxford

The site of the modern day Lighthouse pub in Oxford was within a stone's throw of the Norman city walls. Flanked on either side by the 11th century St George's Tower and Castle Mound, the area was part of the moat system guarding Oxford Castle. The area remained without significant development or residence until after 1790 opening of the Oxford Canal.

There is reference to a Baptist meeting house in a plaque to the southwest of the pub. Originally constructed in the early 19th century, the Lighthouse now stands on the former site of this meeting house after it was destroyed in the nationwide Jacobite Rising of 1715. As the geography of the area changed over the centuries, so to did the address and facade of the pub. The earliest recorded entry of the public house has it located within St Thomas' parish. In the years ahead the pub would be addressed at Pacey's Bridge, Middle Fisher Row and Park End Street.

A new industrial quarter to the west of the city arose around the high traffic of the Oxford Canal. Coal, transported along the canal directly to modern day Park End Street, resulted in the area becoming a hotbed of industry: breweries, bakeries, jam factories and more sprung up in what was undeveloped land. Though this particular public house benefitted from being adjacent to both a main canal artery and the Oxford Coal Wharf, it was far from being unique as the area dotted with taverns, all looking to attract the many factory and canal workers. In 1824 the pub is believed to have been called "Racers" and operated by a Mr C. Collier. By 1830 it was in the proprietorship of one James Pacey and is recorded as "Navigation's End" - deriving its name from the stream then referred to as "Old Navigation". One may reasonably deduce James was an affluent individual - he bequeathed his family name to the adjoining "Pacey's Bridge".

By 1863 the pub had changed significantly, it had been renamed "The Queen's Arms" in honour of Queen Charlotte (wife of King George III) and ownership had passed to Mr William Lucas. William, a saddler-turned-publican, raised a family in the residences above the pub. His eldest son, Thomas, would be elected Mayor of Oxford in 1892 and also lay the foundation stone of the Town Hall the following year. The senior William Lucas died in 1866 (buried in nearby St Thomas Church) leaving his widow Mary to run the Queen's Arms.

By 1876 the pub had passed into the hands of Albert Thornton and at last 1 Park End Street seemed to have found some stability in this period as the pub stayed in the Thornton family, possibly into the 1930s. This period saw great change in the West End of Oxford, the railway station at Frideswide Square gradually eroded away much of the canal trade. In 1913 William Morris (later Lord Nuffield), without license, started his own bus service to compete with the city's cumbersome tram network. In 1951 Lord Nuffield further forced change when he acquired the Oxford Canal Basin and proceeded to fill it. Nuffield College and Worcester Street car park now stand where once lay the Basin. This was the death knell of the canal system as a competitive mode of transport in Oxford as technology replaced human labour. An apt example can be found in the reconstruction of Pacey's Bridge to withstand the weight of cars, but at the expense of closing the canal route. Such changes to landscape of course affected the demographic in the area and it seems the Queens Arms kept pace with the social evolution:

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Wikipedia