_____________________________________________________________________
General
In 1898 a book was published entitled ‘Tomorrow, A Peaceful Path to Real Reform’. The author, Ebenezer Howard, was horrified by the slums and working conditions at the end of the nineteenth century and envisaged Garden Cities where town met country taking the best of both to produce well-planned towns.
Howard’s vision became reality when, in 1903, First Garden City Ltd. began building an experimental town at Letchworth.
The old village of Letchworth lies around the church of St Mary which was built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The name, Letchworth, originates from the old English words lycce and worth meaning ‘locking enclosure’. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the name appears as Leceworde.
_____________________________________________________________________
Letchworth Hall Hotel
Letchworth Hall is said to be haunted by the ghost of the Reverend William Alington who had once owned the Hall and who died in the 1860s. He was reportedly suspended from his office due to his drinking and bawdy behaviour.
In the mid 1980s two of the female staff members had seen Alington’s shadowy ghost dressed in a cassock and drifting across the ballroom. After that sighting the Assistant Manager and a few other people set up an all night vigil to try to see the ghost. They heard a clock strike 03:00 then they heard the handle of a door on the landing slowly turning. The Assistant Manager insists he then saw the Reverend’s ghost materialise on the landing.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
_____________________________________________________________________
Scudamore
On the corner of Muddy Lane in Letchworth lies a house known as Scudamore. In 1946 it was reported that the sounds of footsteps and thumping had been heard during the night. One particular bedroom was a no go area for the pet dog of the resident family. It would refuse to enter the room and would struggle and growl if anyone tried to drag it into the room. If the dog managed to escape he would flee down the stairs and into the garden.
Scudamore was originally built in the sixteenth century and largely refurbished in the twentieth. No one has ever found the cause of the sounds but it is believed that they are associated with the man who converted the cottages into the present house. For a while it was the home of Raymond Unwin whilst he was preparing his plans for Letchworth Garden City. Muddy Lane got its name as a result of the weather. In 1903 the official inauguration of Letchworth took place near to Muddy Lane in pouring rain.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
|