The Saracens Head

The architectural origins of the Saracen's Head are agreeably quirky for an inn deep in the heart of England's quirkiest county. There was no real reason why, in 1806, architect GS Repton should have designed the inn in the exotic style of a Tuscan farmhouse except, perhaps, that at the time of the inn's construction at the same time as Repton was working on another commission from Horatio Walpole and adding a wing to Wolterton Hall (still in the Walpole family to this day), it seemed like a fine, fun idea. Despite Napoleon's best efforts, the Grand Tour was all the rage and distinguished young gentlemen (and sometimes women) were dashing about all over Europe allowing travel, along with different styles of architecture, to broaden their minds. One of the agreeable results of all this social and architectural activity is today's Saracen's Head