Clibbon's Post - Hertford's Unconsecrated BurialClibbon's Post marks the haunted road side location where highwayman Walter Clibbon was ambushed, killed and buried following mob justice.
On a narrow country road that runs between Bramfield and Bulls Green, about 300 yards from the Tewin Hill turn-off, you'll be able to find a small solitary wooden post by the side of the road, surrounded by encroaching forest. The post has the words "Clibbons Post" carved into it, together with the date Dec 28 1782.
The post, known as Clibbon's Post, marks the site where Walter Clibbon, certainly one of 18th-century Hertfordshire's most infamous villains, was once killed and, reputedly, lies buried.
Walter Clibbon and his 3 sons have been pie men, who sold their wares at markets and fairs all over the county. As well as filling the bellies of hungry markets and fairgoers, they operated a profitable side business.
Eavesdropping on customers' conversations, they would ascertain which tradesmen and farmers had made the most money that day in the market. These folks would, subsequently, be carrying considerable sums on their journey home. Having identified their targets, the Clibbons would change into the clothes of highwaymen and ambush the tradespeople and farmers as they made their way along the lonely roads of Hertfordshire. Any victims who resisted were subjected to a vicious beating.
The Clibbon gang in the end were given their comeuppance on 28 December 1782, after they accosted a young Datchworth man by the name of William Whittenbury. As he made his way through the woods close to the spot where the post now stands, Whittenbury handed over his money without resistance. He then hurried to the house of his uncle, Benjamin Whittenbury, at nearby Queen Hoo Hall, an Elizabethan hunting lodge, to raise the alarm.
Uncle and nephew, along with a servant named Shock North, armed themselves with a gun and headed back to the woods, where they discovered the Clibbons awaiting another victim. A battle ensued, during which the Whittenburys and their servant proved no match for those seasoned veterans of villainy. As the skirmish turned against them, Benjamin Whittenbury was felled by a blow and, with Walter Clibbon moving in for the kill, he shouted to his servant to fire. North pulled the trigger and Walter Clibbon fell to the ground. One of his sons then fled the scene however the other was overpowered, taken prisoner and later executed.
One version of the story maintains that Walter Clibbon was killed immediately, another that he was taken to the Horns public house at Bull's Green where the locals handed out their very own tough justice and clubbed him to death.
What both versions agree on, however, is that Clibbon was denied a Christian burial; as an alternative, he was buried at the spot where he fell by the roadside - a fate allowed by law - with a stake driven through his body to prevent his spirit from wandering.
The post has not proved particularly successful at preventing the restless wraith of Walter Clibbon from roaming the area. Indeed, those who are brave - or foolish - enough to stroll alongside this lonely stretch of country road, when darkness has fallen, have from time to time heard horse's hooves. Some even claim to have witnessed a spectral horse dragging a body along the lane, as the notorious pie man is condemned to relive his last journey time and again.
