The Swan Hotel

The Swan Hotel, Streatley

The Swan Hotel, formerly The Swan Inn, dates from the early 16th century with a late 17th century component and alterations and extensions of the late 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

The building is constructed of a combination of red brick and timber-framing, with tile hanging and weatherboarding. The roofs are tiled.

The building has a highly irregular plan strung out along the western bank of the River Thames in a broadly north-south linear arrangement. From south to north, the plan comprises: an early 16th century rectangular block known as the former stable with an additional stair tower to the rear (west); a late 20th century linking corridor and two storey block at right angles to the river; a late 17th century L-shaped building forming the core of the historic inn with late 19th century additions; two late 20th century accommodation blocks to the north, the southern of which is attached to the former summer-house; and large 20th and 21st century extensions to the north and west providing the hotel reception area and further bedrooms.

The principal elevation faces east towards the River Thames. The former stable block to the south is of two storeys, constructed in red brick in English bond with a tiled half-hipped roof. It features two tile-hung dormers with casements, inserted after 1907 based on photographic evidence, and four sets of modern French doors at ground floor level. A heavily glazed single storey modern link building with a flat roof connects to a two storey brick block built at right angles to the river, with a pitched tiled roof and weatherboarded first floor, both dating to the 1970s or 1980s. The L-shaped timber-framed block with brick nogging and pitched tiled roofs is largely of two storeys except for the southern cross-gable which has an additional attic storey. The gables are tile hung in plain and fish-scale tiles, with dormers featuring applied half-timber decoration, except the northern which is also tile hung. The projecting ground floor has late 20th century plate glass windows and doors along its entire length, creating a first floor roof terrace. To the north is a two storey brick accommodation block with a pitched tiled roof of late 20th century date. This adjoins the former summerhouse, constructed of brick with a tiled polygonal roof and inserted late 20th century windows. A further two storey white-painted brick accommodation block on the river frontage features three gablets to the roof and has a projecting ground floor with a flat roof creating a first floor roof terrace, also of late 20th century date. Large late 20th and early 21st century brick ranges to the north and west complete the complex.

The interior has been much modernised and remodelled, but timber framing is evident in places. A cruck frame survives in the former stable block, and timber frame is also visible in the bedrooms of the southern cross gable and likely to survive elsewhere. The roof structure of the former summerhouse has a king post roof with arched braces and exposed rafters.

The origins of The Swan Hotel are not known with certainty, although the architectural evidence clearly indicates significant early 16th century and late 17th century fabric. A 1764 map of Streatley village shows four detached buildings in the position now occupied by The Swan, though this stylised depiction is difficult to relate precisely to the present buildings. The building known as the former stable block and the historic core of the inn are shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1879. The former stable block is labelled as a "Boat house" on the 1912 map, a function which is also clearly shown in late 19th century photographs. No evidence has been found to confirm a stable function, though this remains a possibility. The Swan Inn was a popular subject for photographers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Photographs by the Oxford photographer Henry W Taunt are a valuable resource, and further photographs from the Francis Frith collection are displayed in the hotel. These photographs indicate relatively little change between the 1870s and 1914. The three principal buildings shown—the former stable, the main historic core of the inn, and a picturesque thatched apsidal summer house—are evident throughout this period. The former stable experienced no alteration during this time, but there were small changes to the main range. In 1880 this building had a south cross gable and a single dormer (the most northerly of those present today), but by 1900 two further dormers and the northern gable had been added. An additional range east of the summerhouse, probably a barn, is evident in a photograph taken from across the river in 1880. While it is possible that surviving fabric from this building is incorporated in the later hotel, this is not evident. The hotel has been subject to considerable extension in the late 20th century, particularly to the north of the historic buildings, with further additions constructed in the early 21st century. It has also been extensively modernised and remodelled internally. The hotel was owned in the late 20th century by the entertainer Danny La Rue.