Venue Type & Location
Overview
An important inn with half-timbered facade set at an imposing height on West Street, a main road winding through Congleton to the left off High Street. Congleton was a small market town on the River Dane in rolling countryside near the foothills of the Pennines. The present 2-storey inn is heavily restored and was mostly rebuilt in the 19th c. in brick. A section of 16th c. wattle and daub fabric and load-bearing timbers remain on the ground floor in the central core. No innyard survives though there is a deep car park to the right of the inn.
Performance History
In 1623 the King's players and the Earl of Derby's players performed at the Swan.
Current Status
History of the Venue
1606-36 Owned by Randall Rode, mayor of Congleton in 1606–8, 1621–2, 1633-4 and 1635–6 (Head, Congleton Past and Present 50).
18th c. Lion and Swan became Congleton's principal coaching inn. 19th c. Rebuilding and extension of the older inn, including a stable block and coach house. New gables added on either side of the central front.
Record Source
REED Cheshire, vol 2, pp 651-2
Patrons who owned this venue
[No data found.]
Bibliographic Sources
- Department of the Environment. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: District of Congleton. Congleton: Department of the Environment, 1975
- Gallichan, Walter M. Cheshire. London: Methuen, 1928
- Head, Robert. Congleton Past and Present. Congleton: Robert Head, 1887
- Pevsner, Nikolaus, and Edward Hubbard. Cheshire. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1971
- Smith, P. Timmis. 'Congleton's Secular Buildings.'. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1970 History of Congleton 309--17.