Wormingford - Crown Inn

The Crown Inn is one of the oldest in Essex and has a story to tell. During some chimney repair work in 1982, mummified cats were found on both sides of the fireplace. Apparently it was the custom among cottage and inn builders to mummify a cat by live burial in the walls supposedly to provide psychic protection. The cats date the inn to about 1600 when Elizabeth Newman, the Witch of Wormingford was accused and tried for practising witchcraft.