The old Saracen's Head

The Saracen’s Head was one of Ware’s oldest inns and was first mentioned in 1365.  In the late 18th and early 19th centuries it became an important coaching inn and was the last in the town to house the famous Great Bed of Ware.

As traffic increased The Saracen’s Head proved to be an obstruction to vehicles entering Ware across the River Lea bridge and turning left into the High Street.  In 1822, this prompted the Cheshunt Turnpike Trust to propose a modest demolition of the wall at the corner of the site.  More drastic steps were deemed to be necessary 120 years later.  A compulsory purchase order saw the whole building demolished in October 1957. Behind the Georgian brick facade a medieval timber-framed building incorporating Elizabethan wall paintings and a regency assembly room were revealed.  One of the town’s oldest buildings was lost for ever.

The rebuilt Saracen’s Head was set back to allow better access into the High Street and opened in the 1960s.