Historic Hampshire Hotels: The Dolphin

England Expects

Welcoming the great & good for over five centuries, The Dolphin�s historical guest list is one of the most impressive to be found anywhere in the world.

An Inn since 1506, The Dolphin had been first built over one hundred years before in 1390 - early records from 1492 suggest it as being a tenement on land called �Le Dolphyn�. It is in the sixteenth century, however, that the first suggestion of royal patronage occurs with a reputed visit by Henry VIII.

During the 1800�s, though, the hotel had come to play host to many of the time�s notable figures. On The 13th January 1801 - days after being promoted to �Vice Admiral of The Blue� - Lord Nelson stayed at The Dolphin where, years later, a letter from his wife Josephine was discovered.

It is known that King George III had his own private suite, and it is also believed that William IV stayed on at least one occasion. Indeed, from 1898, Queen Victoria regularly used the hotel while awaiting carriage to The Isle of Wight.

Strong literary connections also to be found: William Makepeace Thakeray wrote Pendennis during his time as a guest, and during the winter assembly of 1808, a young Jane Austen danced at a ball on her eighteenth birthday.

During the 20th Century, The Dolphin benefited greatly from the departure and arrival of transatlantic liners (it was from Southampton that RMS Titanic set sail) with stars such as Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Wells all adding their names to the guest book.

Rhinefield House
Rhinefield Rd, Brockenhurst SO42 7QB

The Jewel in the Forest

Bounded by the New Forest and with a history inextricably linked to it, Rhinefield is every inch the English country house. Although the present house was constructed around 1880, numerous dwellings have been built on the site since the time of William the Conqueror.

However, it is the estate�s connection to one of romantic poetry�s greatest figures which many will find of most interest: �Rhinefield�..Where some antique oak, itself a grove, spreads its soft umbrage o�er the sunny glade�, wrote William Wordsworth in 1793.

The Swan of Alton
High Street, Alton GU34 1AT

Much more than just chick-lit.

Many of those visiting the attractive market town of Alton do so in order to visit the nearby cottage, now a museum, which once belonged to Jane Austen � the author wrote such novels as Sense & Sensibility there.

However, situated in the Main Street, The Swan can arguably claim to possess even more historic merit than Miss Austen�s former home. Dating back to at least 1377 (when it is first mentioned in Charter) the hotel has accommodated an impressive list of famous guests: Queen Elizabeth I, Lord Nelson, Sir Francis Drake, Judge Jeffries and Field Marshall Montgomery are among those to have rested within its great old walls throughout the centuries..

Farringford
Bedbury Lane, Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight PO40 9PE

Half a league onward...

One of the most pupular of Victorian poets, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, moved from London to Farringford in 1853 - it would be his home for the next forty years of his life and where he would compose many of English literature�s finest poems.

Verse written here includes The Charge of The Light Brigade, Idylls of The King and Gareth and Lynette. Indeed, he was also moved to write of his new home itself:

Where, far from noise and smoke of town
watch the twilight falling brown,
All round a careless-ordered garden,
Close to the ridge of a noble down.

During Tennyson�s ownership of the house, many other notable figures of the day are known to have spent time there. These include Charles Darwin, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear and Sir John Everett Millais.

Avoid the new... The following may not necessarily be linked to famous figures or events, but all offer accommodation in historic surroundings. Click on the links for further tariff and availability information.

Chewton Glen. NEW MILTON. An award-winning five-star luxury hotel and spa. Expedia.co.uk

Lainston House. Nr WINCHESTER. An elegant seventeenth century property much favoured by the rich and famous. Expedia.co.uk

New Park Manor. BROCKENHURST. Offering 24 guest rooms (including three four-posters), New Park is said to have once been a favoured hunting lodge of Charles II. Expedia.co.uk | LateRooms

Winchester Royal, The. WINCHESTER. A hotel for well over a century, the origins of the Winchester Royal date back as far as 1540. Hotelbook.com

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