King's Head Inn, Aylesbury

King Henry VI possibly stayed at the inn while on a tour of the country with his new wife Margaret of Anjou in the 15th century.

[4] Later, a stained glass panel, previously in the nearby Greyfriars monastery, was inserted in the front window of the inn showing the king and queen's individual coats of arms.

[4][5][6] The other coats of arms are of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, William de la Pole and the local Botlier family.

In c.1750, innkeeper William Bell converted the cottages (now the public house) to accommodate stagecoaches with room upstairs for his servants.

The enclosure of the courtyard with additional stables to the one at the rear, which dates back to the late 16th century, provided housing for nearly thirty horses.

In the late 17th century, The King's Head began taking delivery of mail, which was dropped by horsemen through a hatch behind the mirrors.

Beneath a range of meat hooks is a square patch where the hole for the post would have been dropped into the Glue Pot.

In 1700 local magistrates considered converting The King's Head into an overflow jail, but the sum of £400 for refurbishment was thought to be prohibitively expensive.

The main feature of the room is the ceiling, which is the work of the Victorian architect George Devey who was commissioned by the Rothschild family in the 1880s to undertake changes to The King's Head.

The Solar Room, built directly above the Great Hall, was the master bedroom and, according to local folklore, was the suite where King Henry VIII wooed Anne Boleyn in 1533.

[6][8] It is claimed that Oliver Cromwell stayed at the King's Head in 1651 after the Battle of Worcester[8] and received the thanks of Parliament in Market Square, although there is no evidence for this.

Flintlock pistols and swords were found earlier in the 20th century in a 'priest hole' and suggest that Roundhead troops were at one time garrisoned at the property.

The room was originally accessed from the ground floor by a newel stair, which is a spiral staircase inside a tower.

After a number of years serving as a hotel as part of the Rothschild business empire, the property was donated to the National Trust in 1925, a fact commemorated by a plaque at the site.