The Bell Inn On The Corner Of Bell Lane

The Bell Inn, located on the corner of Bell Lane in Widford village, is a historic public house dating from the 17th century or earlier, with alterations made in the 18th and 19th centuries. The building features a modern single-storey extension to the south, while the main structure consists of two storeys and an attic. It is timber-framed and plastered, with a steep old red tile roof and a gabled dormer situated in the middle of the south slope.

The layout includes a three-unit plan with a crosswing at the east end and a large internal gable chimney at the west end. The north front has a shallow two-storey outshut, which contains a Yorkshire sliding casement window and a large chimney. To the left of the chimney is an 18th-century square weatherboarded bay window with casements and a moulded cornice, and to the right is a doorway featuring a moulded architrave and a flat moulded hood supported by brackets.

The east side of the crosswing, facing Hunsdon Road, has a moulded eaves cornice, two renewed sash windows with six-over-six panes, and a large canted bay window set in brickwork on the ground floor. The main entrance is located under a modern flat hood to the left of the bay window, with a similar bay on the single-storey brick extension to the south. At the rear of this extension is a weatherboarded and slate single-storey extension, which may date from the 19th century. There is also a single-storey plastered and slated lean-to extension against the west end of the house.

The plastered north gable of the crosswing features a projecting chimney and a dripboard on brackets at the first-floor level. The older parts of the building have side-purlin roofs. The house was referred to as Trolles in a will from 1526 and became known as The Bell in 1730. It is associated with the writer Charles Lamb, who is said to have described the inn in his work 'Confessions of a Drunkard' published in 1813. The Bell Inn is an important historic timber-framed house and inn with literary connections, contributing to the picturesque character of this part of the Conservation Area.