The property is now Swan House, an imposing black and white half-timbered Grade II listed building dating back to Saxon times and is believed to have been built on the site of a monastery. It is the oldest surviving house in Blakeney. In July 2000 it was on the market with an asking price of £350,000 and the particulars of sale stated that it was set in grounds of about three acres and included heavily beamed walls and ceilings and original doors. Just six years later it was for sale again with an asking price of £695,000.
The listed building is thought to have originally been built as a magnate’s house under the reign of Henry VII, as part of the Manor of Awre, which is mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1806. The house was later refurbished when it became the Swan Inn – a coaching inn which operated for more than 200 years. By the 1870’s the Swan Inn had become a Temperance Hotel and stayed that way until after the First World War. Later being converted into a private residence, Swan House retains plenty of original features that reflect its history as an inn.
In the summer of 2022 Swan House was on the market again for £1m. Historic features of the property include exposed timber framing, beamed ceilings, panelling, ancient doors, imposing open fireplaces, lead glazed windows, stone flagged floors, original oak floorboards and a two-flight newel staircase, with an octagonal newel.
Gloucester Journal: July 1789: The Swan Temperance Hotel, Blakeney, is re-opened, ample accommodation and well-aired beds; careful attention to refreshments. Good stabling.
Landlords of the Swan Inn include:
1856 Henry Cadogan (described as a bookseller, bootmaker and retailer of beer in 1868)
1864 Charles Cadogan (described as a butcher and Blakeney innkeeper in 1865)
1868,1869 William Kynes
1870 John Williams
1876 Mrs Ann Williams (nee Cadogan)
