The Black Swan And Railings To Front

The Black Swan is a hotel that consists of three houses, dating from the late 16th century, early 18th century, and early 19th century, with a 20th-century addition at the rear. The 16th-century section features a timber frame that is underbuilt with sandstone rubble, topped with a fish-scale tile roof and stone and brick stacks. The 18th-century section is made of hammered coursed sandstone with a Welsh slate roof and a 20th-century stone stack. The 19th-century section is constructed from rusticated sandstone ashlar and also has a Welsh slate roof with 20th-century stone stacks.

The layout includes the 16th-century range on the left, the 19th-century section in the center, and the 18th-century section on the right. The 16th-century range has an L-shaped hearth-passage hall plan, is two storeys high, and features two and a half bays of frame with a cross wing of three and a half bays. There is a 20th-century door to the passage at the right end and two casement windows to the left, with herringbone bracing visible on the first floor. The cross wing's gable has curved braces that form concave-sided lozenges, and the steeply pitched roof has ridge stacks at the cross wing and the right end of the hall.

The 19th-century section is two storeys high with three bays and lacks a doorway in the front facade. It has sash windows with glazing bars throughout, gable coping, and end stacks. The 18th-century section rises to three storeys, with the second floor being an addition, and features four bays. The entrance has a six-fielded-panel door beneath a blocked fanlight, flanked by engaged Tuscan columns that support an open pediment. There is one 20th-century canted bay window to the left and two to the right, along with 20th-century three-light casements on the first and second floors. The first floor has stone sills and wedge lintels, while the second floor has oblong lintels. A painted wooden model of a black swan is mounted on a decorated wrought-iron bracket between the first and second floors, and the eaves are stepped with a hipped roof and a ridge stack to the right.

Inside, the 16th-century hall contains a massive chamfered bressumer with shaped ends, supported by two chamfered posts with shaped brackets. The property is enclosed by plain wrought-iron railings at the front. The 16th-century range is also known as 'The Old Rectory', while the 20th-century cross wing at the rear is not of special interest.