The Eagle and Child, Oxford - Reminiscences

I recently read Diana Pavlac Glyer’s The Company They Keep:C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in a Community, a wonderful book about the creative synergy and social dynamics of the famous literary group, the Inklings. The book brought back fond memories of my trip to Oxford many years ago. Being a particular fan of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein, I had to make my way to the Eagle and Child. This famous public house is located at 49 St. Giles, a quaint tree lined street on the northern outskirts of downtown Oxford.

It was with much anticipation that I made my journey to the pub in 2006. Upon arriving at the site, I was initially disappointed with the restaurant’s plain, unadorned façade and its slender entrance. However, once I entered through the pub’s door, like Lucy entering into the wardrobe, I was transported to a magical place. As I ate my Shepherd’s Pudding and drank my “Snake Bite” beer I could not help but imagine C. S. Lewis with his twill sports coat making his way across its creaky floor, a cozy fire cracking on a rainy winter day, and the Inkling’s discussing theology amid the tan walls and dark wood paneling. Like their tobacco smoke, the spirit of Inklings still lingers at the Eagle and Child.

My stay in Oxford strengthened my belief that Christians need more places like the Eagle and Child—to meet, to eat, to think, to be creative. We cannot escape the fact that we are always people in a place. Alain de Botton is surely correct when he says, “it is architecture’s task to render vivid to us who we might ideally be.” Great architecture inspires great thoughts; and great thoughts always precede great action. So Christians, why not create more spaces to imagine, to study, to pray, to think God’s thoughts? In the age of skyscrapers and superdomes—our modern temples to money and sports—it is comforting to know there are still magical places, like the Eagle and Child, where one can do theology!