The Blue Posts Inn
The small restaurant and two brick fronted buildings next to it, were formerly the Blue Posts Inn. Extensively restored in the 1990s they are now used as a restaurant, offices and a shop. Behind the 18th-century Georgian facade is one of Witham's earliest timber-framed buildings, originally a hall house, built in about 1400. Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries the Blue Post Inn enjoyed a high reputation. It is believed that the Prince Regent, later to become King George IV, stayed here. Notice the moulded bricks around the window. After the coming of the railway in 1843 the inn was closed. The restaurant is another 15th-century building and was once the taproom of the Blue Post Inn. Its extension on the left was a working blacksmith's until 1967. Look for the weathervane on top. They are all listed Grade II.
After closing as an inn the building became a china and glass dealer, followed by a tailor, then Coates bicycle and radio dealer from 1929 to 1994. Since then it continued to be a shop until 2009 when it was converted to offices. The old Blue Posts Inn tap room became the Spotted Dog in 1851, then The Crotchet Inn in 1890 until 2000. It then changed names a number of times before becoming a restaurant in 2008.
The illustration below shows a plan of the Blue Posts Inn around 1840.
