The Inn at Whitewell

A jewel in Lancashire’s crown, this charming 14th-century inn is ahome from home for visiting sportsmen.

- Rory Knight Bruce

IN JOHN Martin Robinson's magnificent book A Guide to the Country Houses of the North West (1991), there are many examples of the private mansions of Lancashire that no longer stand or have been ousted into commercial or municipal use. Against this backdrop of progress, the 14th-century Inn at Whitewell, in the Duchy of Lancaster near Clitheroe, exists today as a jewel in the crown of the county.

That it is in the safe and welcoming hands of Charles Bowman (whose family have lived here for centuries) and his wife Louise, a former Joint Master of the Pendle Forest and Craven, and is a warren of comfort and sporting memorabilia, ensure a stay is all the more memorable. It also has a cosmopolitan twist. The night of my visit coincided with the next day's prize-giving at nearby Stonyhurst, the imposing Catholic public school, and many of the guests (one discreetly landing by helicopter in the grass field below the inn) were parents from all over Europe. Their pupil offspring were smartly dressed and impeccably behaved. There is a fine collection of Catholic artefacts at the school (including a thorn from Christ's crown) and a museum of Roman antiquities at nearby Ribchester.