Pub history

The Gilpin’s Bell

The name of this pub recalls the Bell Inn which stood on the west side of Fore Street. The old pub was immortalised by William Cowper in his best-selling 18th-century ballad ‘The Diverting History of John Gilpin’. Cowper, plagued by depression for a great part of his life, had had Lady Austen relay to him the tale of John Gilpin, to raise his spirits. As well as poetry, William Cowper is also known for writing hymns.