Clayton’s Marlow is the new name chosen by owners Aaron & Antosh (that’s us!) for a pub with a long history and tradition in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. There has been a public house on this site for over 150 years and the original pub (The Clayton Arms) was named after Sir William Clayton, Baronet, whose family seat was at Harleyford, 2 miles from the town.
Over the years the pub has gone through many transformations, and was once the home of the local pigeon fancying club. The Marlow Jazz Club had its home here in 1976 for a brief spell, but due to the function room being too small for serious jazz appreciation, and the local ale drinkers and darts players disliking the music, they had to move on. We are carrying on the tradition of jazz at the new bar, with a monthly local smooth jazz band called 3.3 (Listen to a Live set at Clayton’s Marlow on 8th March 2012) and during the week we play laid back jazz, soul, and funk.
We are based at 16 Oxford Road, right in the heart of Marlow, in the strangely named “Quoiting Square”, which we have found out, was so named because they played “Quoits” in the square (an early pub game thought to have originated over 2000 years ago) which involved throwing a horseshoe at a metal pin in the ground (maybe we should start a Clayton’s Marlow league in addition to our annual conker championship).
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If you take a look at the map you will see that we are only a hundred metres from Shelley cottage, the home of Percy Bysshe Shelley, the famous poet, and his wife Mary Shelley, the author of the famous gothic novel, Frankenstein.
West Street is also the home of Sir William Borlase school, a famous Grammar School started by wealthy country gentleman and parliamentarian, Sir William Borlase in 1624, and Two Michelin Star Restaurant “The Hand and Flowers” owned by celebrity chef, Tom Kerridge.
Marlow has had its share of famous people living here, past and present, including the poet, T.S. Elliot, the writer of “3 Men In A Boat,” Jerome K Jerome, more recently, Heston Blumenthal, owner of “The Fat Duck at Bray”, and five times Olympic rowing gold medallist, Sir Steve Redgrave who trained at Marlow Rowing Club.
That brings us nicely onto the one thing that unites all Marlovians (yes that’s what they’re called) and visitors alike, and that is a love of the River Thames, which if you look at the map above is only a short distance from Clayton’s Marlow (via the alley betweeen the West St. Car Park and Thai Square Restaurant) from the beautiful Higginson Park, and the incredible suspension bridge, one of two designs in the world (the other is in Budapest, spanning the Danube), built by the engineer William Tierney Clark between 1829 and 1832.
Marlow is full of interesting places to visit, and stay, but Marlow really comes into its own in the summer when we have The Marlow Regatta (traditionally two weeks before Henley Regatta) where we celebrate in style with Pimms, dress up in striped blazers and boater hats, and sip Hendrick’s Gin and Tonics garnished with a slice of freshly cut cucumber.
And where better to celebrate, than in our beautiful garden bar, surrounded by carefully tended plants and herbs, sitting under a parasol, listening to laid back sounds, and basking in the warm summer sun. We can’t wait.
Well there you have it in a nutshell. A brief history of Clayton’s Marlow and Marlow town. We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as you are going to enjoy one of our beautiful Bellinis, or Mojitos when you come to visit.
If we can help you to organise a celebration or you would just like more information about us, give either of us a call on 01628 488404, visit our website or facebook page.
We look forward to welcoming you soon to our beautiful bar and town.
