The building which is now number 24 Furnace Lane to the left of the old bake house used to be a pub called the King William. It was listed in the 1891 Census return as the ‘King William IV’ and it was occupied at that time by George Collins, a blacksmith. There is a pear tree growing up the side of the building and some of the local people say-that it took its name ‘William’ from this. Bob Browning recalled that it was run before the first world war by a man named Leeson but it did little trade. It was last occupied as a pub in the 1930’s by a man named Waters but there seems to be nobody left who remembers it in use.
The building used to have a cellar but when the wooden floor became rotten it was filled in with rubble and concreted over. The present house still has holes in the wall from when there was a dart board there. .
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Extract from “The Story of Heyford” – Local book series published in the late 1990’s
Volume 1 of 4 | Chapter 5 of 13 | Page 12
The Nether Heyford Prattler 