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General
Piccotts End claims to have been the location for the first ever cottage hospital. The hospital was opened in 1837 by Sir Astley Cooper, one of the most celebrated London surgeons of his time. He had retreated to Gadesbridge Park to escape the demands of his own popularity. He had visions of becoming a gentleman farmer but some of his patients tracked him down and it is said that he opened the hospital as a means of affording them local accommodation.
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Georgian House
At Piccotts End there is a Georgian house where the ghost of a monk had been seen several times during the 1940s and 1950s. Next to the house lies a five hundred year old cottage in which unique mediaeval wall paintings were found a few years after the ghost’s appearance at Piccotts End. It is thought that the Bonhommes monks of Ashridge, a thirteenth century monastery, created the paintings and were therefore associated with the area.
In the 1960s things changed slightly when a poltergeist started causing trouble by slamming doors and knocking. Footsteps were also heard in an empty room upstairs. Later the poltergeist started throwing pictures from the wall and objects would disappear only to reappear later. Crockery was also found to be smashed when it was still sitting on the shelf.
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