Ware Museum

Considering that Ware is a relatively small town, this richly historic part of Hertfordshire does have its own museum, which in 2008 received full accreditation from the Museums, Archives and Libraries Council. The Ware museum is independent and run completely by volunteers. In 2012–2013 Ware Museum was home to the Great Bed of Ware, which was on loan for one year from The Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The bed is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of its maker, who is said to harass and prevent the sleep any non-royal person who attempts to use the bed.

The Great Bed of Ware is an extremely large oak four poster bed, carved with marquetry that was originally housed in the White Hart Inn in Ware. Built by the Hertfordshire carpenter Jonas Fosbrooke in about 1590, the bed measures ten by eleven feet and can accommodate at least four couples, or so it is said. Many of those who have used the bed have carved their names into its posts.

Like many objects from that time, the bed is carved with patterns from European Renaissance art. Originally it would have been brightly painted, and traces of these colours can still be seen on the figures on the bed-head. The design of the marquetry panels is derived from the work of Dutch artist Hans Vredeman de Vries, who lived from 1527 to 1604) and the panels were probably made by English craftsmen working in London in the late Elizabethan period. The bed-hangings are modern re-creations of fabrics of the period.

By the 19th century, the bed had been moved from the White Hart Inn to the Saracen’s Head, another Ware inn. In 1870, William Henry Teale, the owner of the Rye House, acquired the bed and put it to use in a pleasure garden. When interest in the garden waned in the 1920s, the bed was sold. In 1931, it was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, having previously turned down an opportunity to acquire the bed in 1865.

The Ware museum is partially housed in the former Priory Lodge and partly inside a Second World War Command Bunker used to co-ordinate local defences and respond to air-raids; this part was refurbished for 2010. The museum contains lots of interesting items from the long and rich history of Ware, including Roman archaeological discoveries, exhibits relating to the Second World War and Allen & Hanburys pharmaceuticals, who were once prolific in the Ware area. There are also a number of exhibits for children and many special activity days throughout the year.

Scott’s Grotto in Ware

Ware is home to Scott’s Grotto, built for John Scott, an 18th-century poet who owned Amwell House from 1768. The grotto, which is the largest in the United Kingdom, is a series of chambers extending over sixty five feet into the chalk hillside. The chambers are ornately decorated with shells, stones such as locally sourced flint and brightly coloured glass. The grotto was restored in 1990 by the Ware Society and is now owned and managed by the Scott’s Grotto Trust; this curious Ware grotto is classed as a Grade 1 listed building.

Bluecoat Yard: Home to the oldest building in Ware

In Bluecoat Yard you can find Place House. This happens to be the oldest surviving building in Ware. The building dates from the early 14th century, with additions in the 16th and 17th centuries, and was once Ware’s Manor House. This magnificent and historic Ware building has a crown post roof.

The Ware Town Council coat of arms was issued in 1956 by the College of Arms to Ware Urban District Council, and transferred to Ware Town Council in 1975. The arms are derived from matters with which Ware is associated, namely the barge rudders, which make clear reference to the bargemen of Ware, with the red and white striping on the rudders being the livery colours of the City of London, associating the Ware bargemen’s free entry rights to that City; the crossed coach horns reference the long history Ware has as a coaching town; and the sheaves of barley, that bear reference the malting history of Ware. The motto of the town, “cave”, which is Latin for “beware”, was suggested by the College of Heralds, with the intent of its being a pun on the town’s name, whether this is actually true is still debated by some historians.