The North Star in Steventon closed in September for renovation work and reopened in June.
The pub is on the CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) national inventory for having an interior of national heritage importance.
READ MORE: Historic village pub reopens
Staff at the pub including licensee Kerry Tyrrell are now celebrating the CAMRA Heritage Pub Revival Award.
The North Star in Steventon (Image: The North Star)
Judges were impressed with Ms Tyrrell’s efforts and pride in the pub, which has been owned by her family for generations, describing the reopened pub as having ‘a new lease of life’.
The pub was closed for about nine months to undergo extensive work to fix damp and preserve the Grade II-listed building, with local craftsman Michael Toplis in charge of the renovation.
CAMRA said in a statement: “The results speak for themselves, with a refreshed building which retains its outstanding heritage value, a new programme of events and a ‘buzzing’ atmosphere.”
The Heritage Pub Revival Award recognises pubs or pub operators who have renewed the fortunes of a pub on CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Interiors, by preserving its heritage features, benefiting the business and having a positive impact on its local community.
Staff at The North Star in Steventon (Image: The North Star)
Ms Tyrrell said: “We are very pleased indeed to have won this very special award and thank everyone who nominated the North Star. It will take a special place on the mantlepiece at the centre of the settle.”
The North Star building dates back to the late 15th century, with little known about it’s history before it became a public house.
It was previously run by Wantage Brewing Co, and then Morland Brewery of Abingdon. The pub has been a free house since 1998, and Ms Tyrrell’s family has owned the pub for about 200 years.
The North Star is the Oxford Mail Pub of the Week.
The North Star in Steventon (Image: The North Star)
The Beacon Hotel in Sedgley in the west Midlands also picked up a CAMRA heritage award.
Paul Ainsworth, CAMRA’s Heritage Pub Revival Award coordinator, said: “Both these pubs have truly precious historic interiors. At the North Star, it’s brilliant that the serious structural issues have been fully addressed but equally great to find it in the hands of management committed to making it a real community hub.
“The work at the Beacon is a textbook example of how to expand and improve customer facilities without any detriment to the historic core.”
The pub has a four out of five score on reviews site Tripadvisor.
One reviewer posted in June: “The North Star is a genuine, brilliant pub and it will be open in time for the Truck Festival.
“For centuries it has offered excellent beers, wines, good company, sincere customer service in an amazing setting It is near the Ginge river, on a national walking trail and on an ancient, cobbled causeway.”
On New Year’s Day in 2003, the pub’s owner and farmer Robert Tyrrell apparently drove a JCB mechanical digger into the side of the inn. It is understood the staff were refusing to serve him.
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