The Woodman

The Woodman was built in 1727 as two cottages on the top of a hill. Even to this day it still retains the feeling of being a home. Whilst living at The Woodman in 1868, a retired policeman, Henry Wale, asked the local magistrates if he could have permission to sell ale from his front sitting room. The licence was granted & Henry became the first ever licensee of The Woodman, which has remained a public house ever since. Inside the front door, you will see the small bar, which has only recently been moved back to create a larger area for our customers. The low-beamed room adjacent to the bar, once a separate home, retains some of its original features. Within the bar area there is a selection of photographs of The Woodman covered in ivy, as it was in those early years. The Woodman was refurbished in March 1996, when the Whitbread brewery sold the freehold to Discovery Inns. It was at this time that the rear bar, conservatory, restaurant, new kitchen and ground floor cellar were added. New toilets were built, bringing them inside the pub for the first time. At the rear of The Woodman is Grovelands Park, a remnant of the ancient Forest of Middlesex, which survived as part of a large estate belonging to the brandy merchant, Mr Walker Gray. The estate later passed to his relative John Taylor and their names live on today as Taylor Walker brewery. The mansion house on the estate has been a hospital since 1921 and is still to this day. The parkland has been open to the public since 1913. Nearby is a small green where there is a wooden pound, refurbished in May 2002, which was used to retain stray horses, cows, goats & pigs. The owners of the stray animals paid the Pinder (pound-keeper) a fee to gain their animals' release. The last known pinder was Henry Reed who operated between 1897 & 1904. When the pound was finally closed, Henry Reed became The Woodman's second landlord. Since those early days, The Woodman has remained a popular landmark and an integral part of the local community.