The White Hart

Summary

A public house, probably dating to the late C17 but substantially rebuilt in the late C18, and further altered in the C20.

Reasons for Designation

The White Hart, Swaffham, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural Interest:

* as a building with late C17 origins;

* for its late-C18 fabric: its Georgian remodelling illustrates changing architectural fashions and the need for its owners to appeal to those of high social status as Swaffham became a fashionable local centre in the C18;

Group Value:

* for the strong functional Group Value it shares with nearby buildings built or remodelled in the Georgian period that were also designed to face onto Swaffham’s fashionable Market Place, particularly numbers 50, 50a and 50b Market Place (listed at Grade II, National Heritage List for England (NHLE) 1269603), 46 and 48 Market Place (listed at Grade II, NHLE 1269602) and the Town Hall (also listed at Grade II, NHLE 1269635).

History

Swaffham’s significance in the medieval period stemmed from its position on the crossroads of the main routes from London, Norwich and King’s Lynn. The first written record of a market in the town, which was established on a triangular-shaped area formed by the convergence of the aforementioned roads, was in 1215 when King John issued a royal writ to the Sherriff of Norfolk to abolish it should it ‘damage the market in Dunham’. It was never abolished and expanded rapidly. The Market Place was probably open to the church on its east side, but later C17 development closed this off, while the development of The Shambles in the middle in the late C18/early C19, further reduced the size of the open space. From the mid-C18, for a period of just over a hundred years, Swaffham became one of the most populous parishes in Norfolk and one of the most fashionable centres in the county, attracting many leading West Norfolk Families. A racecourse had been established by 1628, the Assembly Rooms were constructed in 1776-1778, subsequently extended and modernised in 1817, and George Walpole, the Third Earl of Orford (1730-1791), founded a coursing club in 1786. During this period of prosperity much rebuilding took place around the Market Place and the overall character of the town is primarily of mid-late Georgian in date, although there is evidence for C16-C17 work behind many façades. Further rebuilding also took place after ‘The Great Fire of Swaffham’, which probably started in the vicinity of the Blue Boar Inn (now the White Hart) on the afternoon of 14 November 1775, when it was set ablaze by a spark from a nearby blacksmith’s workshop. Fire soon engulfed the densely packed houses and workshops behind the inn and along London Road, with 22 buildings being completely destroyed and a further two badly damaged. The town continued to expand in the C19 when its population increased from 2,200 in 1800 to 3,350 in 1845. It also became an important local administrative centre during this period and acquired several notable buildings, including a National School (1838), Shire Hall (1839) and Corn Hall (1858).

The White Hart Inn was substantially rebuilt in the late C18 during a time of considerable renewal in the town, but it probably has a late-C17 historic core. It is described in the 1840 Tithe Award as ‘The White Hart and Stables etc.’, with Honor Jeffrey recorded as the landowner, and Robert Nokes as the occupier. On the accompanying map, the building is located on the corner of Cley Road and London Street, facing east onto the latter. It has an approximately square plan with a small rear wing at the north-west corner and a detached linear range oriented north-south to the rear, almost certainly the stable. The configuration is similar on the historic Ordnance Survey maps of 1883, 1905, and 1928, with the addition of another rear wing on the south-west corner of the main range, which links it up to the stable. Since then, this later linking wing has been further extended with the addition of an attached parallel range on the north side, and the north-west wing has been removed. The ground floor has also been opened up into a single space.

Details

A public house, formerly an inn, probably dating to the late C17 but substantially rebuilt in the late C18, and further altered in the C20.

MATERIALS: flint and brick, under a pantile-clad roof. The facade is rendered and colourwashed. The stable is constructed of brick laid in English bond, colourwashed, with a pantile-clad roof.

PLAN: the building is situated on the corner of Cley Road and London Street, facing east onto the latter. The main range is square on plan with a rear wing on the south-west corner which is attached to the stable to the west, oriented north-south.

EXTERIOR: the White Hart Inn has two storeys and an attic under a pitched roof with an internal gable-end stack to the south. The façade is four window bays wide and has pilaster strips at the corners and another defining the first bay. These rise to the parapet which has a plain moulded cornice and a long, narrow recessed panel, giving the impression of a frieze. The centrally placed half-glazed door is set within a fluted timber doorcase which has a dentilled architrave and plain hood. The fenestration consists of six-over-six pane unhorned, recessed sash windows; one to the left of the front door, two to the right, and four on the first floor. There are three flat-topped dormers positioned wholly in the roof space.

The right gable end is lit on both floors by six-over-six pane sashes. The subsidiary rear wing has a flat roof and is lit on the first floor by three similar, irregularly spaced sashes, and on the ground floor by two horizontal, top-opening windows of C20 date.

INTERIOR: the ground floor has been opened into a single space.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

460568

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Swaffham History Group, , The Book of Swaffham: The Story of a Norfolk Market Town, (2021)
Pevsner, N, Wilson, B, The Buildings of England: Norfolk 2- North West and South, (2002)

Other
Unpublished research – Swaffham Cultural Consortium and Swaffham History Group.

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