Pleshey itself has a very colourful history. Its earliest origins stretch back to the Bronze Age and, thereafter, to Roman Occupation. The area was known as “Tumblestown” in Saxon times, but was called Pleshey by the Normans, after the word “Plesseis” – meaning an enclosed space.
It was the Normans who raised the great Mount, and under Geoffrey De Mandeville, Earl of Essex built the first castle in wood. Confiscated by King Stephen in 1143 during the civil war between the King and Matilda. Geoffrey met a bloody end a year later, but the castle was eventually restored to the family. By 1180, the castle had been refortified with the consent of Henry II and Pleshey’s first church established.

In 1216, Pleshey Castle was besieged by the Earl of Salisbury in retaliation for the involvement of Geoffrey Fritz Piers, Earl of Essex, for his part in forcing King John to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede. The death of King John later that year brought some peace to Pleshey. A century later, some six hundred years ago, the town enjoyed its richest period with its own mayor, market and over 40 shops. Its Lord was the Duke of Gloucester [Thomas Woodstock], Lord High Constable of England and Uncle to King Richard II. The castle was now made of stone and was a place of power, wealth and pageantry. Gardens, deer parks and parkland stretched for many miles.

A College of Canons was endowed by the Duke in 1393 [the site lies by the present church] following his deliverance from drowning in a storm while returning from France. In 1397, disaster struck. Richard II, resentful of his Uncle's power, visited the Duke at Pleshey Castle and, on a pretext, had his lured away to be seized and later murdered in Calais.
Reverting to the ownership of the Crown, Pleshey became the home of Queen Margaret in the 1450’s. During that time there was much building in brick including the fine bridge to the Mount, which still stands today. By the late 1500s the castle was abandoned and in decay. Sir John Gates, Lord of the Manor [and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster], dismantled much of the castle and dissolved The College of Canons, and was only prevented from demolishing Holy Trinity Church by the opposition of local people. In 1553, he met an untimely end on the scaffold for treason.
For more than two centuries the Castle has been owned by the Tufnell family of Great Waltham, who still hold the Castle in trust. Today, only the massive earthworks of the Motte and Bailey and Town Enclosure remain.

The White Horse itself dates back to the late 15th century and still maintains much of its original character. Some of the original timbers and flooring can still be seen in the restaurant. The original house and brewery house buildings being joined together by a slate roof. The original roof timbers can also be seen upstairs. Later additions were made to the building to provide the kitchen area and gallery.