About Us
Right in the heart of historic Abingdon, The Tipsy Mercer is a proudly independent cocktail and freehouse bar built around good drinks, good music, and good company.
Set on Abingdon’s bustling High Street, we opened our doors in 2019 with a simple aim: to create a welcoming social space that feels lively, relaxed, and a little different from the ordinary. Today, The Tipsy Mercer has become known for expertly crafted cocktails, carefully selected beers and wines, live music, quiz nights, DJs, and unforgettable weekends upstairs and downstairs alike.
But the story of the building goes back much further.
Before becoming The Tipsy Mercer, 22 High Street was best known locally as the former Stan James bookmakers, a familiar fixture for many years before the space was transformed into the bar you see today.
The building itself sits within one of England’s oldest market towns, surrounded by centuries of history, independent shops, and traditional pubs. Like much of Abingdon’s High Street, the property has evolved alongside the town - adapting with each generation while remaining part of the community’s social life. When we took over the space, we wanted to preserve that spirit while giving it a fresh identity: somewhere modern, vibrant, and welcoming to everyone.
Today, The Tipsy Mercer combines that historic High Street setting with a contemporary cocktail-bar atmosphere. Downstairs is all about relaxed drinks and conversation, while upstairs hosts live music, comedy nights, private parties, quizzes, sports screenings, and community events throughout the year.
Whether you’re joining us for a quiet midweek cocktail, a packed Saturday night, or one of our live events, we’re proud to be part of Abingdon’s continuing story - and even prouder to help make good times happen.
The History of 22 High Street
The Tipsy Mercer sits in the heart of Abingdon’s historic High Street - a building with a story that stretches back more than 300 years.
Long before cocktails were being shaken behind the bar, this site was home to generations of mercers, tailors, outfitters, and family-run businesses that helped shape the town’s commercial history. Records trace a mercer’s business here as far back as 1673, when William Stevenson, described variously as a mercer, grocer, and maltster, acquired property in what is now Abingdon High Street. At the time, the building stood as a substantial six-hearth property in the busy Market Place area.
Over the centuries, ownership passed through a remarkable succession of local families. The Roberts family continued the mercer trade through much of the 18th century before the business was acquired by the Harris family in 1790. By the early 1800s, the premises had evolved into a thriving tailoring and outfitting business, eventually becoming closely associated with William Beesley and the E.H. Beesley clothing company - a name still remembered fondly in Abingdon today.
Throughout the Victorian and Edwardian eras, the business expanded alongside the town itself. Tailors and travellers delivered clothing to surrounding villages by pony and trap, later by bicycle and motor van. The shop became known not just as a retailer, but as part of the everyday life of Abingdon and its surrounding communities.
Like any old building, there are stories too. One family tale told of mysterious rattling chains and strange noises heard through the walls during stormy nights. The mystery was finally solved in 1926 during rebuilding works, when workers discovered the skeleton of a monkey hanging on a chain hidden between neighbouring buildings - likely an escapee from a travelling fair many years before.
By the mid-20th century, the business had grown to include menswear, ladieswear, fabrics, household linens, and schoolwear, operating across neighbouring High Street properties. Changing shopping habits eventually brought the long chapter of the Beesley business to a close, but the building remained an important part of Abingdon’s High Street story.
While the business has changed, the spirit of the building remains the same: a social place at the centre of town where people come together. From morning coffee and relaxed drinks to live music, cocktails, DJs, quizzes, and late-night celebrations, The Tipsy Mercer continues the tradition of hospitality and community that has existed here for generations.
We’re proud to be part of the next chapter in the story of Abingdon High Street.