A pub owner has discovered traces of a 500-year-old building in the structure of his ‘haunted’ pub.

While doing some work to expand his beer garden, Danny Williams, the owner of The Three Horseshoes Pub in Letchmore Heath, Radlett, came across timbers and flooring that could date back to 1504.

This Monday he got in touch with English heritage who told him about the history of the pub and what the find may mean.

Mr Williams believes the timbers he uncovered near his beer garden were probably those of a blacksmith or farrier's shop, (person who fits horseshoes) which may explain the pub’s name.

The rest of the building may also be built on the site of a hall house that he says existed around 1560 to 1570.

A hall house is a medieval structure that opens into a hall with a hearth with a portion in the rear separated for sleeping.

He added: “This made me dig a little more about the history and the old building styles and when English Heritage came down they said that a lot of the buildings at the time were hall houses.

“No one had a vested interest in bringing it back to its original glory, but I'm here and I want to put down some roots for my kids.

“We won’t know what’s gone on until we start to uncover other parts of the building, but it may change what we know about local history.”

Mr Williams lives above the pub and claims there may be more to the pub than just a long history, something supernatural.

Mr Williams said: “It’s definitely haunted.

“It’s been around for a long time and sometimes you can hear knocking and walking.

“People will think I’m bonkers but I have seen what looks like someone walking around.

“The pub’s old front door is now a window and I thought I saw someone walking through it.

“People are probably going to think I’m just going mad but my first thought was what on earth is this?”

Mr Williams is now looking to investigate the history of the pub more depth and get professionals to do a 'dendro' dating test on the timbers.

This involves drilling into the wood to find when the tree was alive by looking at its rings; the number of rings indicate the passage of time.

Mr Williams, 47, came to the area three years ago. He is originally from Islington in north London, but both his parents brought him as a child to Bushey when they worked at the Foresters Arms in Bushey Heath before moving to Mallorca.

Mr Williams is now looking for any leads on the history of the pub.

He is asking anyone with any recollection of the pub and any old ruins to contact him on contact@threehorseshoes.info.