Schooner Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Schooner Hotel & Bar is a Grade II listed 17th century coaching inn
and hotel located at 8 Northumberland Street in the coastal village of Alnmouth
, Northumberland
, England
. The hotel lies on the main High Street and is recognizable by its whitewashed walls and black painted shutters.The 32-room hotel is amongst the best known hotels in northeastern England and in the 19th century had a considerable reputation with a clientele of people such as Charles Dickens
, John Wesley
, Basil Rathbone
, and King George III of England.
said of the hotel: "The exterior and entrance to the Schooner is looking a bit worse for wear and has needed a serious make-over for a while. Yet, to the left as you enter, is the most gloriously-decorated Indian restaurant, quite out of keeping with the rest of the hotel. Appropriately called the Spice Galleon, it was fresh, clean, subtly lit, and neatly decorated with stylish ornaments and prints. A blue glow emanated from around the top of the walls – I assumed it was part of the lighting effects and not a load of ghoulish ectoplasm, the sort of spooky things that have made the Schooner famous as 'The Most Haunted Hotel in Great Britain', an accolade twice bestowed upon it by the Poltergeist Society..... The general atmosphere was jollied along by some stuttering Indian music, which, when it worked, was enjoyable and helped ship diners away from the freezing Alnmouth night to a world of spices and blistering heat."
Coaching inn
In Europe, from approximately the mid-17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers...
and hotel located at 8 Northumberland Street in the coastal village of Alnmouth
Alnmouth
Alnmouth is a village in Northumberland, England. It is situated just off the main A1068 road , about south-east of Alnwick.Located at the mouth of the River Aln, the village has been an important trading port in Northumberland's past, mainly involved in the export of grain, and smuggling. Due to...
, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The hotel lies on the main High Street and is recognizable by its whitewashed walls and black painted shutters.The 32-room hotel is amongst the best known hotels in northeastern England and in the 19th century had a considerable reputation with a clientele of people such as Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
, Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
, and King George III of England.
Architecture
The Schooner Hotel became a Grade II listed building on 31 December 1969. It is a whitewashed building with black shutters, originally built in the 17th century. It was extended in the early 19th century and again towards the end of the 19th century. It is built from tooled squared stone, three storeys high (excluding the cellar), and has 5 + 3 bays. The older section on the left has half-glazed doors with from the 20th century with an old segmental-headed arch at right end. The roof is made from Welsh slate roof, with 2 chimney stacks rebuilt in yellow brick.Spice Galleon restaurant
The Northumberland GazetteNorthumberland Gazette
The Northumberland Gazette is a weekly newspaper published in Alnwick, Northumberland, England.A broadsheet, it was established in 1854 as the Alnwick Mercury, but adopted the title Alnwick and County Gazette in 1883 after incorporating that newspaper, founded earlier in 1883; it continued the...
said of the hotel: "The exterior and entrance to the Schooner is looking a bit worse for wear and has needed a serious make-over for a while. Yet, to the left as you enter, is the most gloriously-decorated Indian restaurant, quite out of keeping with the rest of the hotel. Appropriately called the Spice Galleon, it was fresh, clean, subtly lit, and neatly decorated with stylish ornaments and prints. A blue glow emanated from around the top of the walls – I assumed it was part of the lighting effects and not a load of ghoulish ectoplasm, the sort of spooky things that have made the Schooner famous as 'The Most Haunted Hotel in Great Britain', an accolade twice bestowed upon it by the Poltergeist Society..... The general atmosphere was jollied along by some stuttering Indian music, which, when it worked, was enjoyable and helped ship diners away from the freezing Alnmouth night to a world of spices and blistering heat."