Staff at the Herts and Essex Observer are being moved from the office where the paper is thought to have been founded in 1861 as it shuts for good.
The office sits in North Street, part of Bishop’s Stortford’s historic high street, and is believed to have been built in 1550.
Owner Trinity Mirror has taken the decision to close it, affecting five staff who will be moved to the publisher’s Hertford office in Old London Road, some 13 miles away.
A Trinity Mirror spokesperson said: “We have confirmed with our five staff based in Bishop’s Stortford that we propose closing that office with them moving to the new Hertford office with the rest of the Herts and Essex team.
“There will be no redundancies and no other editorial impact or changes of this proposal.”
The Herts and Essex Observer was taken over by Trinity Mirror last year as part of its £220m buyout of Local World.
The paper’s editor Paul Winspear and news editor Sinead Holland were made redundant after a restructure cut five jobs in the region.
Although contested by historians, the Herts and Essex Observer is thought to have been founded by postmaster Thomas Belsey May.
The first issue is said to have been published on April 6, 1861, under the title of the Bishop’s Stortford Observer before the name was changed to the Herts and Essex Observer a year later.
Rival the Bishop’s Stortford Gazette was merged with the Observer shortly after its launch.
Picture: Google Maps
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