There are nearly 500 Royal Oak pubs in the UK (surprisingly less than I’d thought), and all trace their name to an old hunting lodge just outside Wolverhampton.
Originally the site of a 12th century priory, following the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century as England moved from Catholicism to Protestant, the land was acquired by the Giffard family. In the late 16th century, a farmhouse on the site was converted into a hunting lodge and named Boscobel House, after the Italian ‘bosco bello’ meaning beautiful woodland. The Giffard family was Catholic, something outlawed at the time, and the house continued to shelter priests in priest holes. In the 17th century, the house would go from hiding priests to royals.
Throughout the 1640s England had been in Civil War. King Charles I was defeated in 1649 and beheaded, leaving England a republic. The King’s son (confusingly also Charles) was continuing the battle for the crown. From Scotland he marched down to the West Midlands, an area sympathetic to the Royalist cause. On the 3 September 1651, Charles was defeated at the battle of Worcester, escaping with his life but pursued across the West Midlands by a Royalist Cavalry patrol.
After an unsuccessful attempt to cross the River Severn, Charles was sheltered at Boscobel House, spending the day hiding in an Oak tree as soldiers searched the house.
For the next week, Charles was moved between Royalist supporting families around the region, including Moseley Old Hall and Bentley Hall in Wolverhampton - eventually escaping to France disguised as a female servant - pretty impressive considering he was 6 ft 2.
Nearly a decade later, Charles would return to England as King, reigning in co-operation with parliament, what we would recognise as the early iterations of our modern day monarchy.
The spot of the Royal Oak is marked at Boscobel House today and a descendant tree stands in the garden.
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