| Schooner Hotel | |
| Location: | 8 Northumberland Street, Alnmouth, Northumberland, England |
| Map Type: | Northumberland |
| Inauguration Date: | 17th century |
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] In the 19th century the 32-room hotel had a considerable reputation with a clientele of people such as Charles Dickens, John Wesley, Basil Rathbone, and King George III of Great Britain.[4]
The Schooner has been in decline for a number of years under the current owners, leading to unprecedented legal action by the Trading Standards department of the local county council.[5]
The Schooner Hotel became a Grade II listed building on 31 December 1969.[6] 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.[6] It is built from tooled squared stone, three storeys high (excluding the cellar), and has 5 + 3 bays.[6] The older section on the left has half-glazed doors with from the 20th century with an old segmental-headed arch at right end.[6] The roof is made from Welsh slate roof, with 2 chimney stacks rebuilt in yellow brick.[6] In the 2010s the rear portion of the hotel was renovated and turned into six separate properties; 3 apartments and 3 townhouses.[7] The land behind the hotel that used to contain the Alnmouth Squash Courts is scheduled for further development into 7 houses.[8] The first request for 8 houses was rejected due to insufficient information about contaminated land and archaeology.[9] The second application was approved.[10] [11]
Sixty individual apparitions and more than 3,000 sightings have been recorded, making it (according to The Poltergeist Society of Great Britain) the most haunted hotel in the country.[12] [13] [14]