Oxford Bar Exterior A Public house situated on Young Street, in the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. Inspector Rebus's local

. Oxford Bar Exterior A Public house situated on Young Street, in the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. Inspector Rebus's local. Photographed on 26 August 2013. The recorded location is The Oxford Bar, 8 Young Street, Edinburgh EH2 4JB. The modest Oxford Bar is a public house situated on Young Street, in the New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. Inspector Rebus's local from the Ian rankin books. A super secret tourist attraction for first time visitors to the city. The Oxford Bar in Edinburgh's New Town is a small, traditional public house with a long history on Young Street and a Category B listed interior. It became internationally known through Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels, in which the fictional detective drinks there. The literary association has made an otherwise understated local pub part of Edinburgh's crime-fiction tourism, while the surviving compartmentalised bar layout preserves an older form of Scottish pub interior. From a heritage perspective, pub structures and signs provide a useful record of the licensed trade, from traditional alehouses and brewery estates to contemporary hospitality businesses; They are also part of the story of changing high streets, nightlife, real ale, cask beer and the survival or reuse of historic premises. In the longer view, urban street scenes capture the cumulative effect of planning, architecture, transport, retail and public space; Shopfronts, signs, street furniture and pedestrians can date an image precisely and show how a district changes between periods of investment, decline and regeneration. As of 2026, pubs continue to sit at the centre of arguments about high-street vitality, community identity and hospitality economics; England's 2026/27 rating arrangements include dedicated relief for eligible pubs and live-music venues, underlining the sector's continuing economic and cultural significance. Other useful descriptive phrases include licensed premises, hostelry, bar trade, and cask ale.