Hoddesdon
Contents -- Click to go to item
|
_____________________________________________________________________
General
The exact origin of the name Hoddesdon is not known for certain. In the Domesday Book the town appears as Hodesdone. The name may be derived from an Old English personal name plus dun to give ‘Hod(d)'s hill’.
The town is centred around a triangle with the clock tower, a brick structure built in 1835 on the site of the Chapel of St. Katherine. The chapel had been built in 1336 by William de la Marche. The later tower contains a bell that was given to the original chapel in 1510.
The centre of the town is now designated as a Conservation Area and it contains several fine buildings.
_____________________________________________________________________
The Bull Inn
The Bull Inn was built in 1575 (as the Bell) and survived for nearly four hundred years before it was demolished in 1964. It was famous for its inn sign which spanned the High Street to the old Market house.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the town watchman stood amazed as he watched a white figure walk across the beam to the Market house and then back to the inn. The tale became legendary and spread as far afield as Cambridge and London. The ghost was seen again on Christmas day 1800 when the landlord of the Bull watched it come through the window of a small room in which the female servants slept and get into bed.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
_____________________________________________________________________
The George III
The George III public house (now simply The George Inn) has a cellar into which no self-respecting animal will venture. Strange noises have been heard emanating from the cellar whilst upstairs shelves have collapsed and ornaments have broken themselves. Doors have also been known to open and close of their own accord and machinery will switch itself on and off.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
_____________________________________________________________________
Yew Arbor
The house known as Yew Arbor no longer exists but when it did it was haunted by a green lady. Several people saw her float down the staircase then disappear. One witness was a retired colonel who was well known in Hoddesdon. In 1930 he was staying at Yew Arbor when he mentioned to his hostess that she must have given him the wrong room. When she enquired as to why he thought that he said that there was a lady wearing green already in there. He was told that the woman was actually a ghost that had often been seen in the mirror in that particular room.
Yew Arbor was originally a seventeenth century house that was demolished to make way for the Priory Close flats. At the time it was known as the ‘Coffin House’ because the upper floor overhung the lower and looked like a coffin.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
_____________________________________________________________________
Yew House
For twenty two years until the day it was demolished Yew House was occupied by local historian E. W. Piddick and his family. Mr. Piddick reported that ‘We used to hear the sound of running water and it splashing down the plug hole, but when we looked around, the bath was completely waterless, the taps wouldn’t turn on and the water had been cut off!’
The house was demolished when the Cedar Green estate was built. One former resident was Edward Christian, brother of Fletcher Christian who led the mutiny on the Bounty.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
|
|