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The Bed 10’9” wide by 10’9” long by 7’6”
high now stands in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London but
started its life in the 16th century in Ware. It is thought to have
been made as an advertising gimmick for one of the local Inns and
is known to have been in The White Hart, The George, The Crown and
The Saracens Head (the old one) before being purchased for 100 guineas
in 1870 and placed on exhibition in The Rye House Hotel, Hoddesdon.
In the early 1930s it was purchased for £4,000 by the Victoria
and Albert Museum.
Stories of the bed are many as it was a famous sight for visitors
who according to traditional records would frequently make up select
parties of twelve and engage it for the night in order to put its
enormous capacity for accommodation to the proof. The exact date
of construction is not known but it must have been well known to
William Shakespeare as in his Twelfth Night (first performed in
1601) Sir Toby Belch says:
“Go, write it in a martial hand; be
curst and brief; it is no matter how witty, so it be eloquent and
full of invention; taunt him with the licence of ink; if thou thou’st
him
some thrice it shall not be amiss; and as many lies as will lie
in thy sheet of paper
although the sheet were big enough for the bed of Ware in England,
set ‘em down .....”
Ware in Stitches Quilt
This 11 ft square, exuberantly colourful, wallhanging celebrates
the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and depicts many facets of Ware
life. The brainchild of Mrs. Sue Jones it was created by over 90
local townsfolk ranging in age from 2 years old to 83 years young
(!) and funded by individuals, groups and companies. It is to be
found hanging above the main stairwell at Wodson Park Sports Centre
to the north of the town. Big enough for the Great Bed of Ware,
which as a national treasure is safely housed in the Victoria &
Albert Museum, the Quilt is actually too big for permanent display
within the town at present. However, it is hoped that Ware will
one day have its very own faithful replica of the Great Bed and
that the Quilt will be displayed alongside it.
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