Hanley Swan

Hanley Swan is a small village in the English county of Worcestershire. It lies in the Malvern Hills district, between the towns of Malvern (two miles [3.2 km] away) and Upton-upon-Severn (approximately three miles [5 km] away). Together with the nearby village of Hanley Castle, its population is about 1500. The traditional English village centre includes a village green and pond, a pub, a Social Club and a village stores. Hanley Swan won the 2009 Calor Herefordshire and Worcestershire Village of the Year competition, a heat of the national Village of the year competition. Hanley Swan was an inspiration for the setting of the novel Black Swan Green by David Mitchell.^[1]

Hanley Swan
Village green with pond and Swan Inn
Hanley Swan Location within Worcestershire
OS grid reference	SO813428
• London	97 mi (156 km) SE
Civil parish	Hanley Castle
District	Malvern Hills
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WORCESTER
Postcode district	WR8
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	West Worcestershire
List of places UK England Worcestershire 52.08351°N 2.27417°W / 52.08351; -2.27417

History

The Church of Our Lady and St Alphonsus was built, shortly after restrictions against Catholic churches were lifted in 1829, by descendants of Thomas Hornyold who had aided Charles II's escape. As elsewhere in Worcestershire, the continuing Catholic connections of the county meant that new Catholic churches were established with greater funding than in many other parts of the country.^[2]