| Colnbrook grew up round the coaching inns which were established in the village to provide rest and refreshment to travellers and their horses along the great Bath Road from London to the west. In 1577 there were 10 inns listed there, the same number as in Reading. The Ostrich Inn was founded in 1106, and its name was originally 'The Hospice'. Not all its guests found shelter under its roof, however - in the 17th Century one landlord constructed a trapdoor in the centre of the Blue Room, and wealthy travellers were tipped from their bed into a vat of boiling water below. One account says that over sixty murders were committed in the Ostrich Inn. |
|
Ye Old Ostrich Inn, July 2005 |
A short general history
Colnbrook
Forgotten history of the Irish
previous section
