King Street
by Willettsworld
A flight of stone steps leads from Basbow Lane to the bottom of King Street, a steep hill lined with early 19th century terraced cottages that are mostly fronted with white picket fencing. High on the wall of numbers 25-33 can still be seen fire insurance company ‘firemarks’ – the ‘Royal’ insurance plates being an indication to fire fighters of the time that these houses were under that company’s cover.
Cecil Rhodes
by Willettsworld
Cecil John Rhodes is Bishop's Stortford's most famous son, having been born here in 1853. He was the founder of the diamond company De Beers, which today markets 40% of the world's rough diamonds and at one time marketed 90%. He was an ardent believer in colonialism and imperialism, and was the founder of the state of Rhodesia, which was named after him. Rhodesia, later Northern and Southern Rhodesia, eventually became Zambia and Zimbabwe respectively. There's a large section about him plus some African artefacts in the Bishop's Stortford Museum.