OLD COUNTRY INNS
OF ENGLAND

The Chequers, Loose

Text of Title Page

[Pg v]

PREFACE

“Why do your guide books tell us about nothing but Churches and ManorHouses?” Such was the not altogether unjustifiable complaint of anAmerican friend whose motor car was undergoing repairs. He was stranded ina sleepy old market town of winding streets, overhanging structures andoddly set gables, where every stone and carved beam seemed only waiting aninterpreter to unfold its story.

In the following pages we have attempted a classification and descriptionof the inns, which not only sheltered our forefathers when on theirjourneys, but served as their usual places for meeting and recreation. Thesubject is by no means exhausted. All over England there are hundreds ofother old inns quite as interesting as those which find mention, and it ishoped that our work may prove for many tourists the introduction to a mostfascinating study.

Thoughtful men, including earnest Churchmen such as the Bishop ofBirmingham and[Pg vi] the Rev. H. R. Gamble, are asking the question whether theold inns should be allowed to disappear. The public house as a nationalinstitution has still its purposes to fulfil, and a few suggestions havetherefore been included with a view of showing how it might easily beadapted to modern social needs.

[Pg vii]

CONTENTS