Coaching Inns were the motels of the Regency period. They were also the gas stations, the gas being horses. At this moment, I am writing a Coaching Inn scene, so I thought I’d share what an Inn of the period would look like.
In Southwark, London, there remains a Coaching Inn existing since the 1500s. After a fire destroyed most of the area, the inn was rebuilt in 1676 and this is the building that remains today, owned now by the National Trust and operating as a restaurant.
Coaching Inns were built around a central courtyard where the coaches entered and the teams of horses were changed. Fresh horses were contracted for the Royal Mail, but some could be leased by private individuals. Inns provided rooms for travelers to spend the night and a public room or tavern where food and drink were served. Private dining parlors could also be procured.
In the George Inn, the public rooms were on the street level and the bed rooms were above.
When I visited the George Inn in 2003, I took a photo of a photo of the Inn in 1880. The wing that is most easily seen in this photo was pulled down when the Great Northern Railroad used the Inn as a depot.
But in the George’s heyday, it was a bustling, busy place. Shakespeare visited the Inn, and Dickens was known to have frequented its Coffee room. Dickens mentions the Inn in Little Dorrit.
You can just about see the Inn’s sign in the first photo. It is of St. George slaying the dragon. Before there was widespread literacy, signs like this identified the inns and other buildings as well.
Any time I write a scene about an inn, you can bet something memorable will happen there and most of the time that means a love scene!
In your travels what sorts of memorable things have happened to you in motels or hotels….besides the romantic things, that is!
I can think of two things: 1. When I was in junior high and our family was traveling, I dared my sister to jump into the motel pool with her clothes on and she did! 2. When traveling with our adult daughter she took in a stray cat that happily spent the night in her room. Luckily, it ran off in the morning or we might have added a cat to our collection!
Next Monday at Risky Regencies I’m having a guest blogger. Victoria Vane aka Emery Lee will be blogging about her erotic Georgian novella, A Breach of Promise. She’ll be giving away one free download of the novella.
When I was 7 years old, our family drove around the country during the summer, visiting historical sites. I had taken with me a stuffed dog as my companion. One morning, we were over a hundred miles from our hotel when I realized I’d forgotten my dog. My dad called the hotel. They hadn’t seen it. He gave them our address, and that was that. We were gone over two months. After we returned home, a box arrived in the mail. God bless those people. They’d found my stuffed dog under the bed, and mailed it to me, no charge. And I have never forgotten that amazing kindness.
What a lovely memory, Judy! I, too, had stuffed animals that I was attached to. I can just imagine how thrilled you were to have your stuffed dog back.
I love cchnaiog inns too Diane, I love the idea of all those different lives mixing and brushing against each other, so many possibilities. In the north of Scotland the roads were so bad that people travelled by water wherever they could. There were loads of ferry inns, where the innkeepers often had their own whisky still. We have several still in business, though the ferries are long gone, and if the landlord has a still, he keeps it very quiet.
England’s old inns fascinate me. You can’t help but think of all the people who have been there before you and what was their story. I love a good story. Can’t wait to read wait to read what happens in your particular inn.
I have my heroes and heroines stop at inns a lot! Hope you like this one, Kathleen.
I rmmeeber when Chancellor Hinshaw was at UC Davis, we’d occasionally share an elevator in the main administration building where we both worked. She didn’t seem big on elevator small-talk, but whenever I had a book in my hand she would invariably break the silence with “Mind if I ask what you’re reading?”
I love coaching inns too Diane, I love the idea of all those different lives mixing and brushing against each other, so many possibilities.
In the north of Scotland the roads were so bad that people travelled by water wherever they could. There were loads of ferry inns, where the innkeepers often had their own whisky still. We have several still in business, though the ferries are long gone, and if the landlord has a still, he keeps it very quiet.
Marguerite! How lovely for you to visit. (Marguerite’s next Harlequin Historical is out in February – look for it now! The Wicked Lord Rasenby http://www.margueritekaye.com/bookshelf-2/the-wicked-lord-rasenby/
We tend to forget that a lot of Regency era travel took place by water, both the sea, rivers and canals. I love the idea of a scene in a ferry inn!
Thanks for an interesting post.
When traveling in Bali after finishing my tour as a Peace Corps volunteer, I stayed in a hostel-like place. My bedroom window overlooked the courtyard of the house compound. In Bali, they believe evil spirits can possess a person, usually young teen girls. It is most often due to a curse placed on the family. They believe the day starts at midnight and is dominated by good spirits. As the day wears on, the evil spirit takes over. It is in the evening hours that spirit possessions take place. (this was 40 years ago so this is really generalized.) One evening, the young daughter of the family was possessed by an evil spirit. They held her down in the courtyard and eventually tied her to a bed there to keep her from flailing around. She shouted a screamed, really screamed, constantly from about 7 PM until midnight. There were no clocks or watches in the courtyard, but right at midnight when the good spirits take over the day she stopped. They untied her and everyone went to bed. They were out the next morning doing there daily chores as if nothing had happened. It was very unnerving. The spirit world and beliefs were very close to the surface and a major part of their lives. Unfortunately, I am sure westernization has has a large influence since then. Too bad.
My three years in the Peace Corps resulted in several interesting things at hotels. Since volunteers had little money, when we were called to Manila on business, the Peace Corps paid for our rooms. They used the same hotel all the time. Other volunteers would check to see who was there and bunk free in the rooms. I remember one time, we had about 6 or 7 (it could have been more), guys and gals, sharing a room. One of the girls got an earring stuck in her ear (she had just had them pierced and it go pulled halfway through). She panicked and we called the house doctor. When I checked out the next morning, there was a charge I owed for it that was half my month’s rent. Luckily one of the volunteers who knew her and was stationed in the same area was still there and he paid it for me.
Sorry these were so long. There were more very different experiences during those 3 years.
Don’t apologize, librarypat. These are fascinating!
Gosh I admire you for serving in the Peace Corps. I was way too cowardly as a young person to ever do such a thing.
I remember sharing dinner with you and some fellow regency addicts at the George Inn. Wasn’t that an amazing trip? Marvelous memories indeed!
Vicky!!! (Of onelondonone.blogspot.com)
Yes we had a wonderful time. I treasure those memories and the friends I made on that trip. You, especially!!