Baldock was perfect for trade

The modern layout of Baldock and many buildings in the centre date from the sixteenth century, with the earliest dating from the fourteenth century. There are many places to see that have true historic significance in and around the Baldock area.

Baldock was built where the old Great North Road and the Icknield Way crossed. The A1(M) motorway, which was completed in 1963, was called the Baldock Bypass for some years. In March 2006, a new bypass removed the A505 road, which was part of the old Icknield Way to the east of Baldock from the town. Although Baldock has many old and quaint buildings, it is still considered a relatively modern town to live in, with a good, modern road network, including major road links to London within easy reach.

Baldock has always been a trading town

Owing to the location of Baldock, the town was a major staging post between London and the north. There were many coaching inns and many of them still operate as pubs and hotels to this day, and Baldock has a surprising number of pubs, considering how small a settlement it is. One should also remember that the nearby Letchworth Garden City used to be a Temperance town, with places selling being completely outlawed.

From the 1770s until 2008 the high street of Baldock was very wide, which was a typical feature of a medieval market place, where more than one row of buildings used to stand. In the case of Baldock, the bottom of the High Street had three such rows, until Butcher’s Row was demolished by the Turnpike authority’s in the 1770s. In late 2008, a town centre enhancement plan included a narrowing of the road and subsequent widening of the paved areas.

Baldock, royalty and robbers!

Baldock’s position at the crossing of two important thoroughfares, the Great North Road and the Icknield Way has made it a stopping point for a number of very famous, and some would say, infamous visitors. These include Charles I, who passed through Baldock en route for London after his arrest in 1648 and it is reported that the highwayman Dick Turpin frequented Baldock, either to carry out his crimes, or to hide out from the pursuing authorities. The preacher and founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley came to Baldock in 1747.

Baldock and the brewing industry

Since the 16th century, Baldock has been a centre for malting, subsequently becoming a regional brewing centre with at least three large brewers still operating at the end of the 19th century, despite a decline in demand for the types of beer produced locally.

The Census of 1881 records approximately thirty drinking establishments in the Baldock area. This number of public houses was disproportionate when one considers that the population of Baldock was around 1900 at that time. Throughout the early 20th century a large number of pubs continued to sell to not only the local population, but to the occupants of Baldock’s neighbour, Letchworth, which had no alcohol retailers prior to 1958. As mentioned above, the sale of alcohol was banned in Letchworth because of the strong Quaker links the town had. In fact Letchworth had only two pubs and a single hotel bar up until the middle of the 1990s, so it’s little wonder that Baldock did a roaring trade with its public houses.

Help for the poor in Baldock

The Wynn almshouses, in the High Street of Baldock, were founded in 1621 and were endowed “To the World’s End” by John Wynne, a cloth merchant from London who left £1000 in his will in 1614. When he died, he left this money for the Baldock almshouses upkeep.

Baldock has a long history of human occupation

There has been human activity in the Baldock area well before the modern town was founded. Prehistoric remains on Clothall Common date back as far as c 3000 BCE. Many Roman remains have been discovered during building work in and around the town, and the core of the Roman settlement lies between Walls Field and Bakers Close.

Another noteworthy building in Baldock is the thirteenth century Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin at the centre of Baldock. The original church was built in about 1150 by the Knights Templar before being largely rebuilt in about 1330 by the Knights Hospitaller. It is a Grade I listed building.

A medieval leper colony, on Royston Road, was located during excavations in 2003, having been thought for many years to lie to the south-east of Baldock on the former Pesthouse Lane, which is now Clothall Road.

Early Iron Age remains have been uncovered in the same general location, which suggests that Baldock may be the earliest town ever to develop in Britain.