History & Information
Hodnet is a small, pleasant village situated between the towns of Market Drayton, Telford, Newport and Whitchurch. Formerly a market town mentioned in the Domesday Book as Odenett, the name derives from the ancient Welsh phrase for 'pleasant valley', hawdd meaning pleasant and nant meaning valley. It is suggested that his ancient Welsh name perhaps denotes a pre-Roman origin to the community, perhaps as part of the Cornovii, who later built the Roman city of Wroxeter. During the construction of the Hodnet by-pass in 2002 an early bronze age burial site was found close to Espley Farm with at least 17 cremation pits being identified, whilst it has been suggested that the mound on which St. Luke's Church is built may be the site of a pre-historic fort.
Before 1066, Hodnet was a royal manor of Edward the Confessor under the stewardship of Earl Roger de Montgomery who managed to retain the land by suppporting William during the Norman Invasion. In around 1082, Montgomery's lieutenant, Baldwin built a motte and bailey castle in what is now the gardens of Hodnet Hall and this may, again, have been placed upon earlier earthworks. A sandstone castle was then built around 1196, but was destroyed in 1264. Hodnet, itself, was the 'caput of the hundred', originally a Saxon meeting place and administrative centre for one hundred hides. A Saxon hide was an area large enough to support one family. To this day, the Hundred House stands at the top of the village, close to the church.
Hodnet Hall still sits as the seat of the Heber-Percy family, whose ancestors can be traced directly back to the Baldwins via the families of the de Hodenets, Ludlow, Vernon, and Hebers to the current family of Heber-Percy. Hodnet is, therefore, one of only a handful of English estates which have passed in unbroken succession from the time of the Norman Conquest to the present day.
The Bear Inn is said to date back at least 500 years and is said to still contain the passages used to hide the monks as they came from the church. These tunnels, ending in what is now called the bearpit, may also have been used to transport ale underground in order to avoid tax levied on ale transported over land. Todays modern bearpit was created by an enterprising publican in the 1970's and contained two young bears until common sense allowed their release. It is believed, however, that during the 16th century the Inn may have had its own bear pit in what is now the car park. The owner allegedly kept the bears in a pit below the bar. It is said that that regulars fed the bears food and drink and some of the bears are said to have died from alcohol poisoning. The modern bearpit is now contained in an area known as 'Jaspers' named after the ghost of Jasper Neilsen, a Scandinavian merchant, who died of hypothermia in around 1590 after becoming intoxicated and having an argument with the landlord.
Further Information
Description of Hodnet in 1870-2, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
Paranormal Investigation of The Bear at Hodnet with a short history by North Wales Paranormal