The original house was built on the edge of the village in 1505, when the whole area was one great oak forest with clearings around the village for cultivation of crops. The house was originally called ‘Saxes’ during the early 18th century when Samuel Symonds Pepys, an ancestor of the famous diarist, owned the Inn.

At the time the inn was constructed Henry VIII, the second of the Tudor Kings, had just come to the throne. He passed a law that made it compulsory for every man in the village between the ages of 16 and 60 to own a longbow and to practice with it in the churchyard each Sunday. He also passed a law to increase the number of horses in the Kingdom for use in times of war.

The inn has stood through the reigns of 23 English rulers. So for hundreds of years the White Hart has stood in this corner of Essex while history has lapped at its doors.

During all that time it’s offered comfort, warmth, good food, ale and a warm welcome to the countless generations of Englishmen and the foreigners who became Englishmen without noticing it.