White Hart – Harrogate, UK
Posted by: dtrebilc
N 53° 59.566 W 001° 32.746
30U E 595337 N 5983695
A hart is an old English word for a mature stag, and this white one stands proudly above the entrance to the White Hart hotel.
Waymark Code: WME3CA
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/29/2012
Views: 5
King Richard II of England who reigned between 1377 and 1399 had 2 white stags on his coat of arms and in addition he adopted a single white stag as his emblem to represent his reign.
The White Stag is a common pub name and the 5th most common name in the U.K. In this case it has also been adopted as the name for a hotel.
There has been a hotel on this site since at least 1765 but the current building was erected in 1847. Harrogate was originally a small village within a royal forest used as hunting grounds. A hart is therefore used in remembrance of both the royal hunting grounds and Richard II. The village expanded greatly after the discovery of a sulphur spring in 1571 and it became the first spa town in the U.K.
The architect obviously wanted to draw attention to the newly designed hotel and so placed the White Hart above the entrance porch to the hotel.