History of the swan The 'Swan Inn' was opened in 1861 by Mr
George John Swann. Mr Swann had previously been manager at the
Queen's Hotel during the period when the German Legion were
camped on the Queen's Parade opposite the Hotel in 1857 on the
Legion's return from the Crimea War. Mr Swann did all the
catering for this legion and with the profits made decided to
start on his own account and became the first Landlord of the
Inn and it became known as the 'Swan Inn". An anecdotal story
from the local newspaper tells us that on every Easter Monday
there were sports held in the gardens, including cock fighting
in pits. The following is an extract from a letter from Mr
Swann’s grandson to the proprietor in 1949. A Mr Cocks followed
as Landlord until about 1880 when the Inn was taken over by Mr
Reeves the father of Mr George Pryor Reeves who died at the Inn
several years ago (1938). The following items may be of interest
to you: The Architect who designed all the roads in this new
part of Farnborough had his offic