PUBS across Oxfordshire are among those included in a new book about murders at Britain’s inns and hotels.

Author James Moore trawled through old copies of the Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times to uncover the gruesome history of some of the county’s favourite haunts.

Well-known incidents such as the St Scholastica Day Riot at the Swindlestock Tavern feature alongside murders people are less likely to have heard of, like the Burford killer who worked at the town’s The Lamb Inn.

Mr Moore, who was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, said he hoped the book would reveal the murky pasts of places where people regularly drink.

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He said: “Very few of us know the colourful history of the pubs in which we drink.

“We all love a good tale to tell in the pub and how wonderful it would be if we could tell one about the pub we are in at the time.

“I think the tales I uncovered in Oxfordshire are only the tip of the iceberg.

“I did a lot of new research delving into local papers and there are thousands of other cases which I could have looked into.”

Oxford Mail:

Author James Moore.

The St Scholastica Day riot in 1355 broke out at the Swindlestock Tavern after a disagreement between two students and the landlord escalated and about 90 people were killed.

In 1955, to mark the riot’s 600th anniversary, Oxford University awarded the Mayor of Oxford an honorary degree and the council made the university vice-chancellor an honorary freeman of the city as an act of reconciliation.

Mr Moore said: “What struck me about the riot was that it was a small row of the type that breaks out every day in a pub.

“It erupted into this huge town and gown conflict that led to 90 deaths and we know from our own experiences that arguments spiral out of control even today.”

Mr Moore, who lives in Cheltenham, also researched the case of a more recent murder which happened in Burford.

John Edward Allen, an employee of The Lamb Inn, strangled a 17-month-old child with a piece of clothes line taken from the pub.

Allen was caught and sent to Broadmoor in Berkshire, which was then a criminal asylum, but he escaped in 1947 disguised as a vicar.

Despite being recaptured he was released again in 1951.

Mr Moore said: “He became known as a master of disguise and he is one of the more chilling characters in the book because he was so calculating.

“He was able to evade police for a lot of the time until they finally caught up with him when he committed a minor crime in Newcastle.”

Staff at The Lamb Inn were not fully aware of their pub’s gruesome history.

Employee Jakub Hall said: “I had no idea that there had been a murder here. I thought it could have been in one of the other Lamb Inns in Oxfordshire.”