The Town Pit and The Greyhound Inn

The Town Pit was one of five in Swaffham which, with five town wells, provided water for both animals and people from ancient times until piped water was available in 1867.

In 1973 the Town Pit was drained and renamed Richmond Plain after Alan Rufus, Earl of Richmond, who was the town’s first Lord of the Manor after 1066.

The neighbouring Greyhound Inn existed here before 1679. Originally called the Bell or Blue Bell, its name was changed to The Greyhound in the late 18th century in gratitude to Lord Walpole who used the inn as the headquarters of his elite hare coursing club, the first in England, from 1775.

Auctions of household goods in the town were common in the 19th century but the tradition of the Saturday auction at the Greyhound sprang up in the 20th.

The rear yard was the place to buy small livestock, fruit, vegetables and electrical equipment, whereas the front of the pub – “The Stones”- was, and remains the Saturday market auction space for anything that anyone wants to buy or sell.