Manual Ref* NFsnSC001 Show 3 images 226
Title*

White Hart Inn sign
County Norfolk   District Council Kings Lynn 
Civil Parish or equivalent Scole  Town/Village* Scole 
Road Norwich Road 
Precise Location On White Hart Inn facing east 
OS Grid Ref TM145788  Postcode IP21 
Previous location(s)  
Setting On Building  Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
John Fairchild     

Commissioned by

 Original sign presumed to have been commissioned by John Peck when he built the White Hart Inn in 1655 

Design & Constrn period

 Not known 

Date of installing

  

Exact date of unveiling

  

Category
Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type
Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type: Inn sign

Subject Type
Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type
Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
Inn sign  Probably iron surround and plaster  H. 1.5 metres L. 4 metres 

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

 White Hart Inn 

Listing status
Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition
Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail:

Structural Condition
Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail:

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks  
Inscriptions THE SCOLE INN 1655 FREE HOUSE 

Description (physical)

 The sign is a modern replacement for a much more elaborate one discussed below. It is set above the main doorway between the first and second floors partially over the road. The reclining white hart has a shield around its neck showing three Jerusalem crosses to suggest pilgrimage, albeit broken here for refreshment halfway on the Norwich to Ipswich road. 

Description (iconographical)

 A print dated 1745 -but also known in a later version of 1842- shows an elaborate archway with richly ornamented Corinthian columns spanning the road with a splendid white hart suspended in the centre against an open surround. Angels on the underside of the cornice hold refreshing jugs for the coach disappearing towards Ipswich. The cornice is crowned by another stag under a canopy which is flanked by hunting dogs and Diana and Actaeon with huntsmen at the ends. The base of the pier furthest from the inn is decorated with wounded female deer with above lions on one side and horses on the other. The doorway to the inn was flanked by female caryatids. The inn is grade I listed. As its sign proclaims it was built in 1655 - the probable date of the elaborate structure shown in the print. 

Photographs

 Date taken:  12/11/2006
Date logged: 

Photographed by:
Sarah Cocke

On Site Inspection

 Date:  12/11/2006

Inspected by:
Richard Cocke

Sources and References

 Picture Norfolk NP00006314 Inscribed: The White Hart Inn At Schoale Norfolk - Printed at 70, St. Martin's Lane, published June 1842 by T. McLean, 26, Haymarket; Nikolaus Pevsner and Bill Wilson, Buildings of England. Norfolk 2: North West and South, New Haven and London, 1997, p. 632; Norfolkpubs.co.uk, The white Hart, Scole 

Database

 Date entered:  7/12/2006

Data inputter:
Richard Cocke