Lilley
Lilley maps (2 available)
Map of Bedfordshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Bedfordshire
Personalised maps
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Lilley books (9 available)
- 1 photos on Lilley appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Lilley
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Lilley and Bedfordshire
Lilley memories
Read and share memories of Lilley and Bedfordshire inspired by Frith photos
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You can also read memories of nearby places in Bedfordshire below.
Bedfordshire memories
Cottages in Lower Road
My dad used to live in the end cottage up until the early 1950s (the one next to the car). Both my grandparents lived there until about 1965.
The cottage was very small, with no running water and an old earth closet toilet. The water had to be collected in pails from standpipes every day.
These were dotted around the village next to the older cottages that did not have any internal running water, and this was the norm right up untill the late 1960s, when a lot of the houses were modernised. From memory, the water appeared to be not charged or metered as during the summer holidays you always could get a free drink and play around by ...read more here
A memory of Breachwood Green contributed by kevan peters
Colemans Road
When I was small my mother used to help out in the farm run by Mr Coleson, which was behind the photographer. His son Tommy still lives there I think.
I remember collecting eggs and Mr Coleson drinking milk that was still warm from the cows he had.
The house at the bottom is now called the Old Queen's Head after its original use as a pub. I remember part of it being used for the doctors surgery, the doctor being either a Mr Probyn or a Dr Crill.
A memory of Breachwood Green contributed by kevan peters
Halsey's Delicatessen
Our grandparents used to visit Halsey's weekly from Old Stevenage to buy their provisions. Now I with my sister visit regularly especially as we love the new owners' Kirsty and Damien's Tea Room. We take our children for 'tea' there and they think it's a real treat! Christmas simply wouldn't be Christmas without our Christmas Pudding Coffee, and Wild Boar and Black Seal Rum Pate!
A memory of Hitchin contributed by sharon dudley
Hitchin
The scene is the rear of The Sun Hotel.
Extracts From Lilley & Bedfordshire books
The Lilley Arms is the oldest public house in the village and dates from around 1705. Originally called the Sugar Loaf, in 1852 its name was changed to the Sowerby Arms out of respect to the lord of the manor. During the Great War, it changed again to the Lilley Arms. For many years the adjacent building was occupied by the village blacksmith. Lilley was the home of Johan Kellerman, a famous alchemist who boasted that he could change mercury into gold. It is said that he lived in squalor in one room protected by sliding bolts and patent padlocks. Kellerman boasted that 'the world, sir, is in my hands and my power'. Eventually he was chased away and died in poverty in Paris.
An extract from from"North and East Hertfordshire Photographic Memories".
In 1901, Hermitage Road was a pleasant, open avenue. The building on the left in view
46642, left, is the Hermitage, home of Frederick Seebohm; very little of it still remains.
Windmill Hill is just visible in the background.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".
A view of St Marys church in 1931, with the War Memorial in the foreground. In 1752, the Rewd William Cole wrote that the tower was `one of the most clumsy and heavy ones I ever saw`. Perhaps `solid` is a kinder description.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".
In the 1960s, the Sun Hotel’s yard did not include
fire escapes from the upstairs rooms, as it does now.
Otherwise, there is little but the parked cars to give
a clue to the date of this photograph. The timber-
framed buildings, on the left, are believed to date
from the 16th century.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".
This 1908 view of the churchyard from the south shows the gates that once protected the dead from body snatchers. J Shipley Slipper, a
dentist, held a surgery at Waldock’s on the left, but only on alternate market days - a long wait if you’d just missed him. George Savage’s
draper’s shop is by the gates on the right, and next door to him is Allsop’s, trading as a cash tailor under the slogan: ‘The Novelty House
for Neckwear’. The façade of his shopfront has been rendered, and scoured with lines to give the impression that it is built of stone.
Unfortunately, the years have taken their toll and the render is slowly falling off. Halsey’s is on the right: an advertisement in the window
draws attention to ‘Halsey’s Dog Food’ - packets of puppy biscuits surround it. Strictly speaking, the buildings from Savage’s to Halsey’s are
in the Market Place, whilst those on the other side are in the Churchyard.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".