Our Story

The white hart dates back to 1591. This is the earliest record that we have managed to find although it is rumoured parts of the building are even older. The Hart is the deer found on the front of the building and is original. The White hart is ‘lodged’ (sitting down) this date back to Richard II. He gave houses the lodged hart to show he used it as a residence. The building is thought to be the site of the original ancient manor house for Haroldsworthy (worthy = farm). This is because manor houses were always built to the south of the church for superstitious reasons. Perhaps the lord of the manor then thought the house was too large moved out and let it as a hotel. In the 1950’s horses were stabled at the rear of the building. Local man Mr Trace was the Ostler. Still today the original bells hang in the foyer. These were connected up to all the rooms and used to call for room service or perhaps the use of the Ostler. The Hutchings family moved to Holsworthy in 1982. With 5 days until Carnival night and the Hotel that had been closed for over a year, it was a big job to get open. But with the help of an entourage of friends and family the White hart opened on Carnival Day to the appreciation of many local people. Since then we have sold and bought back the hotel! Today the hotel is run by Jon and Tam Hutchings the son and daughter in law of Richard and Annette. We are now in a new era after covid and keeping up with the way the world has changed we have opened the VINYL restaurant, Its well worth a visit