Earl Of Strafford Opens 1984

A Memory of Hooton Roberts.

It's nearly 25 years since the Earl of Strafford hotel opened in Hooton Roberts. I wrote an M.A. dissertation on Thomas Wentworth, the First Earl of Strafford after whom the pub is named, so I was naturally very interested.

I was shown around the building and was amazed to see runnels in the basement floor which were for the blood from beasts slaughtered on the premises in the old days. I also heard about Anne Kent who is supposed to haunt the place after an unhappy love affair long ago. I was so intrigued, I wrote a pamphlet about the hotel.

I often go jogging through Hooton Roberts and I have developed a real affection for the place, especially Holmes Lane which goes behind the church and comes out again on Kilnhurst Road. It is so tranquil down there, even though the traffic thunders by on the main road only yards away.

The church of Saint John the Baptist is also a fine building. Strafford's third wife is buried here. There are some fantastic gravestones in the small graveyard, it is very Gothic and atmospheric. There are a couple of really nice walks at the north and south side of the village. Some of the overgrown lanes remind me of Anglo-Saxon paths followed by warriors a thousand years ago.

I go frequently to the pub now. It is no longer a hotel but it might return to being one. I have taken many photos of Hooton Roberts on my walks around the village and some of these can be seen inside The Earl of Strafford, along with an account of the great man himself. The atmosphere there is always very friendly.

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