Workmen digging on the site of the old Eight Bells public house in Watford High Street [on January 3, 1957], discovered a well 64 feet deep. This is the second well to be found on the site.
Tony Collins, who made the discovery, was clearing away a pile of earth when his pickaxe suddenly plunged through the earth.
Goodness only knows what gruesome objects could have lain at the bottom of that well, bearing in mind the tales told of the Eight Bells.
In common with many other Watford inns, it was reputed to have been the haunt of body snatchers. Here they arrived by stagecoach to refresh themselves with a tankard of ale following their ghastly exertion.
The spoils of their macabre occupation lay in a nearby alleyway in readiness for the journey back to London.
[From the Watford Observer of January 11, 1957]
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