One of the earliest known mentions of The Mitre appears on John Speed’s 1610 map of Buckingham, where it’s shown beside Mitre Cottage at the corner of Bonehill Lane (now Mitre Street) and Hunter Street. Mitre Cottage itself dates back even further, to around 1420. The pub also features on a Rutgers map from 1661 and was historically linked to the Lord of the Manor of Gawcott and Lenborough, from whom it rented land—paying a Quit Rent of 8d per year in exchange for exemption from military service.
In its early days, The Mitre stood within an area known as Prebend End, a district that had a priest but no church. The local economy was supported by nearby farms, businesses, and religious pilgrims visiting St Rumbold’s Well—a sacred spring said to have emerged upon the saint’s death. This site can still be found by following the Railway Walk westward from the pub toward Tingewick Road.
Originally a thatched, standalone building, The Mitre was expanded in the late 17th or early 18th century. During renovations in 2012, fragments of the original thatch were uncovered in the top-floor walls. Additions from this period include a set of stables to the left and a small lounge with a fireplace, which now shares a wall with Mitre Cottage. At the same time, the pub’s upper floors were extended, the roof was tiled, and loft space was converted into three bedrooms. A new brick façade was added to complete the transformation.
Further evidence of its working past emerged in 2015, when the stable floor—made of blue brick with a central drainage runnel—was unearthed. The outline of the hayloft door and an original window can still be seen from outside.
According to the Victoria County History of Buckinghamshire, The Mitre is “a half-timber and brick house of two stories and attic, dating from the seventeenth century.” The pub’s rich legacy is also documented in Buckingham: The Loyal and Ancient Borough by Douglas J. Elliot, which is now available for download.
As would have been common at the time, after renovation in the late 18th century the bar was laid out with multiple rooms with doors between them, and a central off-sales counter. The bar was further forward at this time, with the beer being served using jugs from barrels on stillages in the room immediately behind the bar (which are still present). This means of course that the beer would have been much warmer than we expect today. In the 1970s the cellar was excavated and the barrels moved downstairs, making cooling and engine dispensing possible. At the same time, the bar was moved back to its previous position before we then installed the new bar nearer to it’s original position, which you will see today. The fireplace in the lounge came from No. 7 Mitre Street and was installed in 2009. Before then it held a gas fire with a 1960’s surround.
The garden and patio areas were laid out in 2007-8, having been previously divided into two as public and private areas. This was to cater for the smoking ban that came into force in July 2007. The windows to the front of the property were extensively renovated and in some cases replaced like-for-like in 2014.
