Villains on pub signs

The British seem to love their vilains and many of them have been commemorated in pub signs. One of these is the Wicked Lady of Markyate, shown on the pub sign to the left. In the 17th Century, Lady Katharine Ferrers was married off at 14 to a man she didn't love and turned to highway robbery out of boredom and to repay her gambling debts.

Markyate stood on what is the present day A5, the main coaching route between London and Birmingham. Nearby St Albans had 400 beds and stabling for 1400 horses so traffic was heavy along this road and Lady Katherine wasn't the only robber operating. At around this time, Earl Marlborough was robbed of 500 guineas, over £60,000 today.

She is reputed to have given some share of her haul to the poor but she was no female Robin Hood. She mercilessly shot anyone who fought back and, one night in 1660, she was fatally wounded. The Wicked Lady pub stands on Ferrers Lane, Wheathampstead at the site of the shooting.

Highway robbery peaked in the 17th Century after which coaches carried armed guards. To save carrying large sums of money, wealthy travellers lodged their valuables with banks or used the strongrooms offered by larger coaching inns. However, memories of this time remain in the names of pubs honouring Dick Turpin, Lady Katharine and their like.