Spital-in-the-Street

After the excitement of yesterday, we drove back home this morning.  As we drove through the brilliant named hamlet of Spital-in-the-Street, Joe shouted out that he thought he had seen a blue plaque on a building.  Well, that piqued our interest and we did a 360 degree turn at the next roundabout to investigate.  

There was an ancient hospital for the poor in the hamlet, and we noticed the rather beautiful little chapel that is the only part still standing.  It seems to date back to the early fourteenth century, although was subject to fairly major renovations in 1864, but unfortunately it wasn't open for us to explore.

The blue plaque was on the other side of the road and it referenced a building, now part of a farm house, which was the Ostrich or Spital Inn between 1660 and 1860.  The sign told us that my fellow author William Cobbett stayed here during April 1830 when he was writing his book Rural Rides. 

I think he sold slightly more copies of his book than I have done of all three of mine, but Joe did wonder why he had come to Lincolnshire.  Living in Farnham, three miles from Aldershot, our conclusion was that he must have been heading to Scunthorpe to watch the Shots play.  Obviously!