Gilpin House, Ware, Herts, UK - Blue Plaques on Waymarking.com

Dates back to the early part of the 17th century and is thought to have been built by Henry VII for his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort, a Lady of the Manor. Once known as "Gilpin House" after John Gilpin's erratic ride to Ware. This famous ride was immortalised by the poet William Cowper in the early 1780s in a poem entitled “The Diverting History of John Gilpin”, showing how he went further than he intended and came safe home again.

According to the poem, John and his family intended to go to the Bell at Edmonton (not far from their home) to celebrate their 20 years of marriage.

The family were to go in a chaise and pair with John Gilpin following on a horse borrowed from a friend.

All went well until the horse bolted and John with bottles of wine strapped to his back could not stop it until in Ware, where its owner lived (Gilpin House).

As the horse flew past the Bell at Edmonton, John’s wife told him he had arrived.

“But yet his horse was not a whit,
Inclined to tarry there,
For why? his owner had a house
Full ten miles off, at Ware.”


The building was used by a hardware business but is now empty after the business closed in 2007.

Blue Plaque managing agency: Ware Council Physical Address: 84-88 High Street Ware, Herts United Kindom SG12 9AP Individual Recognized: Not listed Web Address: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To log an entry for a "Blue Plaque," please try to include a picture of you next to the plaque!

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   07/02/2021 Master Mariner visited it 09/27/2009 bill&ben visited it

View all visits/logs