An illustration of The Swan with Two Necks, in Lad Lane, London. The Bull and Mouth Inn and the warehouse of Josiah Nidd & Son, Carriers, would have looked similar. The old larger inns were associated with transport by coach and horse: they often had balustraded galleries around yards with stables and various rooms, but they became redundant when the railways arrived. An example of this large inn type is the George at Southward, heavily restored, but recognizable today as a survivor of a once common pattern of coaching inn.

The Three Swans Hotel The Three Swans Hotel, a former coaching inn, has been offering an exceptionally warm welcome to travellers, imbibers and diners alike for over 500 years. In its coaching era, it was visited by King Charles I the day before the famous battle of Naseby in 1645. In 1688, Queen Anne, while still Princess of Denmark, stayed in Market Harborough with the Three Swans providing lodgings for her considerable entourage including the Earl of Dorset and the Bishop of London. It puzzles me slightly why Georgette Heyer chose to mention the Angel Hotel instead of the Three Swans.

Left: the wrought iron sign of the Three Swans.

Above: The Three Swans Hotel, Market Harborough.

The Parish Church The present Parish Church, St Dionysius. However, no mention is made of the screens of carved oak, dating from Jacobean times, which Heyer alludes to. Also, there is some confusion as to which church, St Mary in Arden, or St Dionysius, was the Parish Church around 1830. St Mary was at one time the Parish Church. There is a plaque in St Mary, reading: In Remembrance of Henrietta Fisher, Relict of James Fisher, Esq. and daughter of the Reverend Henry Knapp. She died on October the 4th, 1833 aged 77. St Mary in Arden is now a ruin. Both Churches are in Market Harborough, although St Dionysius is in High Street, while St Mary's seems to be more on the outskirts.

St Mary in Arden was once the Parish Church, but is now a ruin.

Photos and information gleaned from the Market Harborough web site.

---

A little about Country Home Life

Cousin Kate