Three Kings InnThree Kings Inn
Hanley Castle WR8 OBL. Tel: 01684 592686.
History: It is a popular misconception that The Three Kings in Hanley Castle was named after the three wise men of biblical fame. In fact the earliest deeds of the property show that three Kings brothers owned this 16th century timber-framed building in the late 17th century. One of them, Richard Kings, sold the property to Anthony Lechmere in 1710 for £4 15s (£520 today). It has been owned by the Lechmere estate ever since.
In the census of 1841 James and Elizabeth Little are identified as beerhouse keepers in the village of Hanley, but by the following census in 1851 Joseph and Sarah Hughes had taken over as innkeepers. Perhaps at that time and certainly by 1855, according to Billing's Directory, they had renamed the pub the Hare & Hounds. Only when they left, before the 1881 census, did the name revert back to The Three Kings, with Henry and Elizabeth Tomkins as innkeepers. The publicans changed regularly until 1911, when Fred and Ethel Roberts took over, passing the licence on to their son George in 1960, with his widow Sheila taking over in 1990. Today it is in the hands of the third generation of Roberts, George and Sheila's daughter Sue.
Present day: A rare unspoilt pub in rural Worcestershire, The Three Kings received the ultimate award of CAMRA National Pub of the Year in 1993 and was runner-up in 1998. In 2003 it was top of a list of six of the best historic pubs selected by Victorian Society chairman Geoff Brandwood.
Landlord Sue Roberts normally serves two regular beers, Hobson's and Butcombe, plus a changing selection of three from as far a field as Orkney (Skullsplitter at 8.5%, a hefty pint) and the Scilly Isles. Since records began in 1992, the pub has served more than 3500 different real ales.
There is a beer festival every November featuring well over 50 real ales, including some really obscure brews. Live music can usually be heard Friday lunchtimes and on Sundays.
A pub reviewer said, "I adore The Three Kings because it's like stepping into a bygone era. Go there if you want proper beer, good conversation and no mod cons."
Swan Inn
Hanley Swan WR8 OEA. Tel: 01684 311870. Please call or email us
History: The Swan has been a hostelry for hundreds of years, situated as it is on the route of an old drovers' road leading from the Welsh hills to a ford across the River Severn at Hanley Quay and on towards London. The earliest documentary evidence for its existence is to be found in the Land Tax Assessment record of 1781, when Edmund Jones paid a quarterly tax of 6s 8d (about £30 today) 'for the Swan'. He was still there when the Enclosure Map of 1797 was published and is identified in the first directory of Worcestershire in 1820 as a 'vict,' [victualler - a purveyor of provisions].
By 1830 the Swan was owned by Thomas Cheshire and ten years later by John Barnes. Around 1850 the Tomlinson family began their long stewardship, John Tomlinson handing over in 1876 to his son, Benjamin, who was still in residence in 1904. But one year later the third generation of Tomlinsons, Percy, is recorded as having set up a butcher's shop annex to the inn, while the Swan was in the hands of Frederick Flux. At this time the locality is given as Hanley Green, but Kelly's Directory of 1908 identifies the Swan Inn for the first time as being in Hanley Swan.
Some time in the early 20th century the Swan appears to have been sold to the Cheltenham Brewery, which let the premises to the Foort family in the 1920s. When Nugent Foort died in the late 1930s, his widow Emma took over, keeping the establishment going throughout the war years. American servicemen stationed at nearby Blackmore Park cheekily referred to the Swan as the Dirty Duck.
After the war Emma's son, Bill Foort, ran the pub, handing over in the 1950s to a succession of landlords, while the owners, Cheltenham, merged first with the breweries of Hereford & Tredegar and then Stroud to form West Country Brewery in 1958. Five years later they were taken over by Whitbread. When legislation was introduced in the 1980s to limit the number of pubs that the big brewers could own, the Swan was among many pubs sold to a company called Inn Business.
Present day: In 1999 the company was taken over by Punch Taverns, which completed a modern refurbishment of the Swan in October 2004. Today it provides good meals and accommodation, as well as being a focal point of the village.