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The World’s End pub stands in the small village of Ecton, halfway between Northampton and Wellingborough on a former toll road. The village was listed in the Domesday Book, when it was known as Echentone.

The inn was originally built in the seventeenth century and called the Globe. Royalist prisoners may have been kept in a paddock nearby after the Battle of Naseby in 1645 (see page 33), which may be how it got its new name. Until recently the inn sign showed a man on a horse rearing over an abyss. The present building dates to about 1765.

Numerous stories link the artist Hogarth (1697– 1764) with the World’s End. It is rumoured that he once painted the inn sign but that it was stolen. It is definitely known that he visited the village and painted the portrait of a local landowner, John Palmer.

The village is also connected with the former US President Benjamin Franklin. His ancestors lived there for over 300 years and many of them were the village blacksmiths. Thomas and Eleanor Franklin, Benjamin’s uncle and aunt, are buried in the churchyard.

The World’s End is said to be haunted by a barmaid called Angel who worked there in the seventeenth century. She had a suitor, John, who killed her in a fit of jealous rage. Apparently he also haunts the premises, but the two spirits can’t find each other!

The road outside the World’s End, the A4500 between Northampton and Wellingborough, is also haunted. A nun appears there at midnight on Halloween.

The World’s End, Ecton, Northants, NN6 0QN; Tel: (01604) 414521