The Great Bed of Ware is roughly 11 feet square and 9 feet high. Its origins are unknown, but it was created in the late 16th century and over the next 300 years was housed in five Ware Inns as a tourist attraction.

The Bed became so famous that it was mentioned by a variety of literary individuals. The first mention was by a German prince who stayed at the White Hart in 1596. Five years later, it was sufficiently well known for Shakespeare to have Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night describe a sheet of paper as “big enough for the Bed of Ware”.

In 1869 the landlady of The Saracen’s Head sold the Bed to Sir Henry Theale, who displayed it in his Leisure Park at Rye House. It was eventually purchased by the V&A in 1931 to save the Bed being sold to an American millionaire. It has been one of their most popular exhibits ever since.