White Swan Hotel

The White Swan Hotel is a hotel that dates back to the mid-15th century, with significant remodelling and a large back wing added in 1927. The building features a timber-frame structure with plaster infill and brick, topped with a tile roof that has brick lateral and cross-axial stacks. It has a half-H plan with a single-storey infill and stands two storeys tall with a four-window range. The façade includes paired gables flanked by gabled wings, a brick ground floor, and tile gabled coping at the centre, while the timber-framed wings flank paired stuccoed gables. The entrance features a segmental head and a plank door. The windows are made of wood with leaded glazing, including a two-light window to the left and a four-light window to the right of the entrance, a five-light window at the left end, and a canted bay window with a 1:4:1-light configuration at the right end. The first floor has three-light windows and a four-light window at the right end. The right return displays some exposed timber-framing and an original external lateral stack with an offset shaft, along with an attached gateway featuring a tile pointed arch and iron gates.

Inside, the hotel showcases chamfered beams and exposed timber-framing, with some original doorways that have pointed or segmental heads. The right wing contains a former jetty beam with mortises for a 4+4-light window with diagonal mullions, late 16th-century panelling, and a chamfered stone Tudor-headed fireplace with an overmantel decorated with marquetry in three round-headed panels. Additionally, there is part of an important series of late 16th-century mural paintings depicting scenes from the book of Tobit, surrounded by foliage panels. The building was known as the King's House in 1560 and was owned by Robert Perrott, an innkeeper who died in 1589. It has served as an inn for most of its history.