There has been a building on the site of The Black Horse since at least 1644 and parts of the building could date from that time. Originaly a bakers, it turned into a pub and acquired the cottage next door. The Black Horse boasts of having the largest pub garden in Hertford.

The original Black Horse is thought to be no 38 on the north side of West Street. The current pub is numbers 29 and 31. The property at no 29 was owned in 1598 by Roger Swaine and it remained in the family until at least 1684. In 1665, there were 2 tenements on the site of no 31. Samuel Andrews took over in 1822 with William Archer as tenant, followed in 1839 by James Martin, now named The Black Horse. In 1840 the tenant was Ephraim Males, a baker. In this year the “Great Fire of Hertford” occurred when a room over the oven caught fire. Fortunately it was quickly extinguished.
Hertford brewer Thomas Driver Metcalf took over the lease in 1852 and the following year it was acquired by Wickhams, also of Hertford. In 1871 a beerhouse license was granted to William Archer and in 1947 the pub obtained a full license. Wickhams were taken over by Wells and Winch of Biggleswade in 1938. During the war, Wickhams Brewery was bombed, never to reopen. In 1961, Wells and Winch were bought by Greene King who now owned the pub and the cottage next door (no 29). The cottage was merged into the pub in 1977.

Click here for a list of landlords

With thanks to Eve Sangster for her book “West Street, Hertford the first two thousand years”
and to Les Middlewood for some Hertford brewing history.

Some memories from the 70s

Part of the menagerie which included Muggins the dog and Humphrey Mint Sauce the sheep. All lived at the Horse in the 1970s, together with a few human(ish) animals, most of whom are now adult, sophisticated pillars of society. Some aren't.
Right. You may recall the quote "If you remember the 60s, you weren't there!" Well, the same may be said about The Black Horse in the 70s. In short, and to spare anybody's blushes, The Black Horse was then run by a couple called Dave and Sue. The parrot lived in a corner of the bar for a while. Muggins was a "Heinz 57" sort of a dog who muddled around the neighborhood. Mrs CSP and I would be sitting at home minding our own business and suddenly Muggins would be curled up with us in front of the fire. Humphrey lived in the garden of the BH and would wander down into the bar at will. Humphrey Mint Sauce the sheep was very young on arrival and drank milk out of a bottle. It was a 70s thing and the details are a little hazy!!!
Sometimes folk (Bluebottle et al) went off to Billingsgate early in the morning and would come back with seafood.
There was a bench in the garden called "the pregnancy bench" because, in very short order, the girls sat on the bench and got pregnant while the blokes were in the bar. Obviously it was nothing to do with the men, so it was the bench at "issue". If push had ever come to shove, CSP would have demanded some sort of mineral test to determine fatherhood!
Later, some folk went elsewhere, some got together and formed the rugby club, some just grew up.
As you know, some just didn't do any of those things, as evinced by the recent cricket match up at Bayford. There are too many not here at all.