As our petition gains more than 14,000 supporters, solicitors acting for the church have informed the cafe’s solicitors that they will seek an immediate possession order of the Vaults & Garden cafe at a hearing listed for 24th September in Oxford county court.

We are informed that In normal circumstances a preliminary hearing would be used by the judge to give directions on the legal issues to be decided. But  the church has decided to seek to avoid this necessity which will be contested by the cafe’s solicitors. 

And the vicar, the Revd Will Lamb, has not responded to our call in our last update for him to explain his £750,000 “ambitious” plans for redevelopment of the cafe and garden and for the church to run the cafe in the future as a “social enterprise.”

The vicar has remained silent since he announced his intention to evict Will Pouget after 20 years' occupation in which time the cafe has become one of Oxford’s most loved institutions.

The legal proceedings have been initiated in the name of the parochial church council which operates as a charity and has twenty trustees who are personally responsible for the financial affairs of the church. The vicar is chairman of the council.

The last filed accounts for the charity show income of £761,530 and expenditure of £1,178,323 making a short-fall of more than £400,000. Since the legal proceedings began, the church has returned more than £105,000 of rent to the cafe which the operating company, Fresh Connection Ltd, is holding on deposit pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.

There are twenty members of the council recorded at the Charity Commission, who include leading Oxford academics and members of the local clergy.  Will Pouget informs us that he would like to meet them to discuss the dispute but he has not been able.

We take this opportunity of repeating some of your most recent comments on our petition about the Vaults & Garden:-

‘Immortalised in R F Kuang’s Babel, people will be visiting Oxford just to try it.’

‘The cafe is such a charming place and really enhances Oxford’s unique character. It would be a shame if this cafe closes. Its closure - if it happens - unfortunately may dissuade me from spending time in Oxford.’

‘Vaults and Garden serves the BEST cream tea in town! Lovely community feeling here. I think it’s totally tacky they want to basically take over a successful business that worked very HARD to create it.’

‘Shameful behaviour by those who should know better’

Thank you all for your support and especially those of you who have made a financial contribution to our campaign. Please share this update with your friends and colleagues by email and on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Twitter (X) and urge them to sign too.

team@savethevaults.com