The Chapel Bar

Tucked away towards the back of the pub is ‘The Chapel Bar’, named for the pews donated as seating by local vicar Aldous Brears, ‘The Merry Monk’, in 1843. His gift came after the infamous night he sat on, and broke, 4 chairs during a night of drinking in the Hare. After the fourth break he was said to have sat bolt upright, drained his glass and, in his booming voice, quoted from the Book of Isaiah:

"Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate!"

It is the only space in the pub that can be reserved and you would be hard pressed to find a local who hasn’t attended a birthday party, anniversary celebration or wake in there. In fact, only one pew now remains intact after the others were broken beyond repair in the melee that broke out at Rodney ‘The Rod’ Baker’s wake in 1934. But the less said about that unpleasant night the better...