Originally a farmstead dating back to probably the 15th Century, newlyweds Richard and Ann Whinfel extended their recently inherited buildings and opened The Greyhound in 1680 as a coaching inn where the “New Times" horse-drawn coaches used to stop. In the kitchen, there exists a date stone which commemorates their wedding (see below) from the 27th August 1680. In addition, there is evidence of early stables via the arched shape of the dining room window. Business must have been good as Richard and Ann extended west in 1684, and at the same time built Green Farm (on the opposite side of the main road) to supply the Inn with its fresh produce.
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the front elevation in 1703. There is another date stone that exists on the
outside of the building (see right) commemorating this new building - it has
the initials AW and WW with the date 1703 and a crude greyhound above the
arched dining room window. The Greyhound took its name from the Whinfel (or Whinfield) family coat of arms, who were originally from the village of the same name about 13 miles south of Shap. This coat of arms incorporates three stags heads and a greyhound, or talbot. Ann’s family, the Nobles, were at the time resident at Sleddale Hall, just north west of what is now Wet Sleddale Reservoir, which is on the outskirts of Shap. (A note for film fans—Sleddale Hall has since been used as the location of Uncle Monty’s cottage at Crow Crag in the major 1987 British feature film “Withnail & I”, starring Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann and Richard Griffiths.)
The Greyhound has been welcoming guests for almost 330 years. It is recorded that Bonnie Prince Charlie once stayed overnight on the march south with his Highlanders in 1745. To this day the Greyhound is a welcoming sight for travellers and tourists as the first inn after crossing the now much easier route north from Kendal over the notorious Shap fell.
In recent years, the Greyhound has gained an excellent reputation for meeting the needs of walkers, either exploring the beautiful and unspoilt local Eastern fells, or as a welcome stopover along Alfred Wainwright’s famous Coast to Coast walk, from St Bees in the west to Robin Hood’s Bay in the east.
© The Greyhound Hotel 2008.