Welcome to day seven of the Twelve Days of Collections.
According to the festive tune The Twelve Days of Christmas, on day seven the gift received is ‘seven swans a-swimming’, so today it's all about swans! But instead of focusing on the taxidermy swans we have in the HCT collection we are turning to the very topical, pubs! Specifically we are looking at one of the top pub names in the UK - The Swan.
Today there are over 10 pub and hotel names with ‘swan’ in their title in Hampshire alone. So we thought we’d turn to the HCT collections and have a look at some of the historic photographs we have of some of the ‘Swans’ of ages past!
Black Swan Hotel, Winchester
The photograph looks south-west up the High Street from the junction with Jewry Street. The nineteenth century Black Swan Hotel, which features prominently, replaced a much older inn, and was itself demolished in 1935 although the name is preserved in the Black Swan Buildings on this corner. There is a black swan over the hotel entrance, a replica of this remains today along with a polished steel plaque. The plaque draws attention to the swan and explains that The Black Swan Hotel was ‘visited’ by Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.
Black Swan, Andover
The Swan Hotel, Alton
The Swan Inn, Alresford
This photograph shows The Swan Hotel, where, for over two hundred and fifty years it has served the community. The Swan Hotel, as it is now named, can still be visited and is easily recognisable as the exterior has changed very little.
Join us tomorrow for day eight of the Twelve Days of Collections! Or catch up with yesterday's article here.
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