The earliest mention of the Swan was in the Universal British trade directory of 1791, when it was ran by Michael Eaton. Occasionally in documents it is referred to as the 'White Swan'.

​

The Swan was sold by auction in 1861, the sales notice is of particular interest as it describes the Swan as a Public House and notes that it has been "substantially rebuilt". This may indicate more accommodation and additional rooms being added.

 

In 1863, landlord John Warrington was fined £1 for allowing dominoes to be played on the premises - it's reported that the fine would have been lower, if his defence hadn't tried to "upset the evidence".

 

In 1877 there was a series of miner’s strikes in England, Cheadle miners who worked in William Bowers' collieries met at the Swan in November that year to discuss their terms of going back to work.

 

The following year it was again used by miners as a meeting place, when in March 1878 Robert Plant caused unrest amongst his workers when he tried to reduce their pay by 10%.

 

By 1907 the pub was owned by Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co. Ltd. Originally a London brewery, this company gained a foothold in the Midlands following the 1873 purchase of the Phillips' Brewery in Burton.

 

In 1912 licensee Sarah James was duped into supplying whiskey to a man claiming to be a traveller passing through the town, in actual fact he was staying in another Inn. The man was found out and charged with false representation; resulting in a 10s fine and costs, a total of £1 7s.

 

The Swan closed for refurbishment in June 1998 and re-opened the following year.

 

In 2010 a medium visiting the pub said that she could sense the presence of a spirit, the landlords were hoping to arrange an official event surrounding ghosts in the future - although this never went ahead.

​

During the Coronavirus lock-down, Jan and Tony sold the pub and left the premises towards the end of August 2020. Planning permission to turn the building into four residential units was submitted a year later. Despite some strong objections by residents local councillors, this was passed by the SMDC planning committee in May 2022.

​

​

​Past Proprietors:

 

Michael Eaton (The Universal British Directory 1791, 1793)
John Wood (Staffordshire Advertiser 1799)
George Keates (Parson and Bradshaw - Staffordshire Directory 1818, Pigot & Co.'s National Directory 1828-29 and White’s Directory of Staffordshire 1834)
Susan Keates (1841 Census, Pigot's Directory of Staffordshire 1842 and 1845 St. Giles Pew Allotments)
Samuel Burton (Post Office Directory of Birmingham with Staffordshire & Worcestershire 1849, Slater’s Directory 1850 and White's Directory of Staffordshire 1851)
Thomas James (Kelly's Post Office Directory of Staffordshire 1860 and Directory and Gazetteer of Staffordshire with Dudley, Harrison & Harrod 1861)
John Warrington (Staffordshire Sentinel and Commercial & General Advertiser 1863)
William Weston Edwards (Staffordshire Advertiser 1866)
Isaac Mosley (1868 Post Office Directory)
Sarah Shipley (Leek Times 1874)
? Mosley (1876 Staffordshire Sentinel)
Elisha Coates (Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire 1880 and 1884) [until April 1890]
Edward Harper [from April 1890 until April 1891] (1890 and 1891 Cheadle Herald)
Anthony Carr [from April 1891] (1891 and 1898 Cheadle Herald)
Mary Carr (1891 Census)
Anthony Carr (Kelly’s Directory of Staffordshire 1900)
Peter Emmett (1901 Census)
Eliza Talbot (Staffordshire Sentinel 1905)
William James [from 1906] (Documents dated 1907,  c.1910 Information)
Sarah Jane James (1911 Census, Kelly’s Directory of Staffordshire 1912, 1921, 1924 and 1932)
S. A. James (Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire 1940)
Florence and Aubrey Wright [1967-1979] (Cheadle Post and Times 1979)
John Allen [from 1979] (Cheadle Post and Times 1979)

-

Tony and Jan Dickens [2004-2020] (Cheadle Post and Times 2008, 2014)

​