1930s public house and site of medieval Church Alehouse, 'The Six Bells', Bocking (EHER 18418)

The site of a possible medieval Church Alehouse, 'The Six Bells' which was demolished in the 1930s. The building presently occupying the plot is modern.

There is a strong local tradition that the Six Bells Public House which stood at the junction of Bradford Street and Church lane, was a medieval Church Alehouse. Certainly the photgraph of the original Six Bells shows a building which had its origins as a late medieval public building, with Victorian modifications. The carved wooden figure 'Old Harkilees', was re-used as a decorative feature on the facade (now in Braintree Museum). The original Six Bells was demolished in the 1930s when the road was widened. <1> NRHE data transfer: (TL 76082420. Deduced from RCHME plan and OS 1:2500 1971). The Six Bells Inn, 90 yards WSW of (22), at the west corner of Church Lane, is entirely modern, but set in the front is a carved terminal figure of a man, with a wreath of fruit on his head, probably of early 17th century date. <2>