IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Market Place, HITCHIN, SG5 1DU

The tower crane on the site of the Crown House re-development can just be discerned in the centre of the view above the skyline.

Taken prior to pedestrianisation scheme that took place over the next year.

Opened by 1676 as 'The Falcon' and renamed 'The Beehive' by 1855 and lost its licence in 1870. The Licence was subsequently taken over by 'The George' which was previously in Cock Street, Hitchin. Many of the licensees are listed here: https://pubshistory.com/HertsPubs/Hitchin/George.shtml

The 'box' in the centre of the picture was a cabbies' shelter originally located at the railway station. It has now been restored and re-located in the town square.

A promotional sculpture of toilet bowls and bathtubs by the Victoria Plumbing Company in the Market Place in Hitchin.

In traditional Town Crier style, he was in fact advertising a "BOGOF" offer for a local business. Seems somehow incongruous!

The former Paternoster and Hales Printing Office, 27-28 Sun Street, Hitchin.

A relic of what was once one a leading chain of shoe-shops. The style of the sign would suggest a date in the first decade of the 20th century. My guess is that it has survived out in the weather because it is a mosaic - though another contributor (who knows Hitchin far better than I do) has suggested that it is painted plaster http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/561815

It is a curious fact that in some English towns (Hitchin being one of them) boot-scrapers have survived in good numbers, while elsewhere they seem to have disappeared. From what I've seen, I'd say that most are associated with Georgian buildings - relatively few with Victorian ones. These days boot-scrapers may appear little more than quaint relics - it is no longer easy to imagine the state of the streets when horses were a major part of the urban scene, and we tend to forget that as late as Victorian times cattle and sheep were regularly herded through town centres. The photo was taken in Sun Street, across the road from the Sun Inn. The scraper is rather a humdrum example, and appears to be a casting, rather than a wrought-iron job made by a local blacksmith.

The Freeman Hardy Willis sign, painted on plaster in an Art Nouveau red and green font, can be seen at the south west corner of Hitchin Market Square. The shoe retailer was established in 1875. For many years, there was a branch in nearly every town in the United Kingdom. After various takeovers and amalgamations, the firm ceased to exist in 1996. The sign in the photograph featured in a Hitchin urban design survey in 2007 and met with high approval from the survey respondents.