Ye Olde King's Head, Chigwell

Image: © Marathon Taken: 8 Mar 2017

According to Pevsner, Charles Dickens called Chigwell "such an out of the way rural place". Pevsner goes on to say: "The visitor today is surprised to find it still a real village, the first as one leaves London in a north-east direction." This was written though in the 1950s but Chigwell still has the feel of a village as one heads up the hill away from the underground station towards St Mary's Church. Directly across High Road is Ye Olde King's Head as it states on its sign board. It is 17th Century but with a large addition of 1901. The inn is Grade One Listed and was a favourite of ex-prime minister Winston Churchill. A history of the inn says how Dickens wrote in a letter: “Chigwell, my dear fellow, is the greatest place in the world. Name your day for going. Such a delicious old inn opposite the churchyard, such a lovely ride, such beautiful forest scenery, such an out-of-the-way, rural place, such a sexton! I say again, name your day." See http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/localhistory/11176468.Ye_olde_pub_s_history_revealed/ Since 2009 it has been known as 'Sheesh Restaurant' - see http://sheeshrestaurant.co.uk/about-sheesh/

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0