The Tunnels of Hertford
Christs Hospital - Bluecoats Yard
This was actually a school originally sited in London but their buildings were burned in the Great Fire of London of 1666. The school was moved to Hertford consisting of 8 dormitory buildings together with a dining hall and stewards house.
The boys had been re-
The two figures on the entrance gates (left) represent a murderer and his victim. One looks towards the site of the old gallows; the other to the churchyard where he is buried.
Fore Street
Fore Street stretches from east to west; from the London Road roundabout at the entrance to the town to Parliament Square. Many of Hertford’s most important buildings are sited on either side of the road; Shire Hall, the Corn Exchange formerly the town gaol, the Headmasters House (see Bayley Hall), the Ram Inn and Pizza Express (once the Dimsdale Arms) are both sites of regular livestock markets and the Salisbury Arms Hotel.
These are imposing buildings and are mostly Grade 11 listed status. Many of the buildings in Fore Street although outwardly of concrete or brick are of plaster and lathe construction with a thin outer skin; a fact determined whilst I surveyed the street to place bolts from which to hang the Christmas lights. A few inches past the outer skin and there was nothing to support the bolts.
The full essay with extra material and photos in eBook format: The Tunnels of Hertford.
Previous ... Shire Hall
Next ... The Tunnels Part 1
The entrance to Bluecoats Yard
Fore Street looking East