A Great Legacy....

Welcome to the Jack Russell Inn, famous for its connection with the Reverend John Russell, curate of St. James Church in Swimbridge and breeder of the first Jack Russell Terrier

The Jack Russell's oldest ancestor, a white fox-type terrier named Trump, was purchased by John Russell in Marston, Oxfordshire in around 1815. The Parson bred the terriers to flush quarry for his hounds, insisting on the exclusion of bulldogs from the terriers' bloodline to maintain the dogs' gentlemanly characteristics. He was adaments that rather than hurting the fox, they merely worry it enough to force it to bolt above ground.

Despite fellow hunters regarding these relatively gentile terriers and their undocked 'squirrel tails', with distaste, the breed went onto become legendary and loved the world over. John Russell died in 1883 and was buried in the cemetery opposite the pub but his legacy lives on.