History of Villers Hotel in Buckinghamshire
I was referred to in the will of Sir Ralph Seyre in 1577, when he left the property to his daughter Elizabeth in these words:
An advertisement appeared in the Northampton Mercury for 30 October 1738 offering the White Swan for sale:
In 1894 the executors of the 3rd Duke of Buckingham sold the property to the Aylesbury Brewery Company for £2080. It subsequently passed to the Abingdon Brewery, who was later merged with Charles Wells Ltd of Bedford.
In days gone by when strolling companies paid longer visits to country towns than at the present time, a little gem of a theatre was constructed over the Coach-Houses of the “Swan and Castle” Hotel, and performances were frequently given there. During the tenancy of Mr. James Connor, however, it was all swept away (having become “merely a home for spiders”) and the Assembly room was made and fitted with two billiard tables, serving bar, etc. In the course of time however, it was found to be rather a drag to go upstairs to the same, so a new billiard room was constructed adjoining the of the hotel on the ground floor, in the place of the former kitchen. Later on, theatrical companies visiting Buckingham used the Town Hall.