Mystery over future of Downham Market’s The Swan Hotel after pub is boarded up

Mystery surrounds the future of a pub and hotel in Downham after it was suddenly boarded up earlier this month.

The Swan Hotel on High Street – the site of which has a rich history dating back hundreds of years – has been shut for more than a week.

A post on the All about Downham Market and surrounding areas Facebook page shared last week said: “The Swan Hotel is boarded up - what a shame, so much work has been put in and it was a nice place - what a shame for DM.”

The pub shut under its former landlord back in April 2019, with the then-proprietor Brendan Morgan stating that the “current climate” with increasing business rates and brewery prices meant it was no longer viable.

But it was reopened in September 2019 under a new landlord and was refurbished, offering food, drinks and rooms.

Since the boards went up at The Swan, the Lynn News has attempted to contact the current landlord, but there is no answer to the phone number given online.

Additionally, the website is not currently accepting bookings for food or rooms – but booking a room is possible from 2024 onwards.

But Mr Morgan, who owned the lease at The SwanHotel between 2012 and 2019, told the Lynn News that people should “stop this unwanted gossip”.

He said the real reason for the closure was landlords being “crippled” by high prices for rent and all beers and spirits.

“It’s absolutely downright disgusting and disgraceful. Thousands of good landlords have been left on the street over the years becasue of these companies,” he added.

The business occupies a site where King John is believed to have stayed at a hostelry in 1216, and King Charles I is also believed to have stayed in accommodation there while on the run in 1646 following his defeat at the Battle of Naseby.

Do you know what is happening to The Swan Hotel in Downham? Email rebekah.chilvers@iliffepublishing.co.uk