A new public house, feature of the new shopping precinct in Rickmansworth town centre Penn Place, will not be named William Penn as originally intended but The Keystone.

This is in deference to objections by members of the local urban council which thought Penn’s name should not be associated with a public house beacuse of his Quaker views on strong drink.

But, even now, there will be an association with the founder of Pennsylvania, who once lived in Basing House, Rickmansworth. The Keystone arises from Penn’s associations and early references to the state of Pennsylvania as The Keystone State.

[From the Watford Observer of August 7, 1964]

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