| Schooner Hotel | |
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| Schooner Hotel aerial.jpg | |
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| General information | |
| Location | 8 Northumberland Street, Alnmouth, Northumberland, England |
| Inaugurated | 17th century |
| Website | |
| www.theschoonerhotel.com | |
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.[1] The hotel lies on the main High Street and is recognizable by its whitewashed walls and black painted shutters.[2][3]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.[4]
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The Schooner Hotel became a Grade II listed building on 31 December 1969.[5] 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.[5] It is built from tooled squared stone, three storeys high (excluding the cellar), and has 5 + 3 bays.[5] The older section on the left has half-glazed doors with from the 20th century with an old segmental-headed arch at right end.[5] The roof is made from Welsh slate roof, with 2 chimney stacks rebuilt in yellow brick.[5]
The Northumberland Gazette 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." [6]