Debbie Dance of the Oxford Preservation Trust in the Painted Room, once part of The Crown Tavern, used by William Shakespeare on his visits to the city. Picture by Ed Nix LOVERS of William Shakespeare have been raising a glass in memory of the Bard. As well as being St George's Day – today is the great playwright’s birthday. But with social distancing measures still in place, celebrations have once again, been ‘virtual’. Members of Oxford Preservation Trust had the rare honour of toasting him in one of his former haunts – the Painted Room in Cornmarket. The room, above a phone shop and bookmakers, is is all that remains of the 13th century Crown Tavern of which Shakespeare’s friend, John Davenant, was innkeeper.