IHAVE come across an interesting theory that some of our country inns might have developed from ancient manor houses. An alternative is that our inns were initiated, probably from ordinary houses or farms, when people began to travel extensively from their own part of England and so required food and accommodation during their journey.

The practice of welcoming guests is of very ancient origin, being regularly featured both the Old and New Testaments. In many cases, this service was later provided by the monasteries, particularly those of Benedictine monks whose rule included, and still includes, the welfare, nourishment and accommodation of visitors and guests.

So far as the theory about manor houses is concerned, it appears that many early manors provided a wide-ranging service to the people, not just in this country but across Europe. In some senses, they performed the duties of the town halls that appeared later in our history because they served as administrative centres for the community.

Among their many roles, the occupants of manors enforced the law, helped the jobless and infirm, gave shelter to travellers, protected the weak and served as a community centre by hosting meetings, parties and festivals.

There were even times when religious services were held in manor houses.

It is not surprising, therefore, that a French town hall is known as an Hotel de Ville and a hospital was called an Hotel-Dieu, each of which carried out public and/or welfare functions.

The multi-purpose role of manors might also have links with the villas of Roman times, but there is little doubt that, over the centuries, the owners of our manors were expected to be leaders of the community while fulfilling a very public and useful role through the use of their premises.

Although some of those early manors might have developed into town halls and offices, others have now completed the circle by becoming rather posh inns or hotels. Almost from the start, these were quite distinct from the more lowly places that might have been visited by poor travellers, pilgrims and local people.

One oddity, which is perhaps a reminder of former manorial times, is that the person in charge of even the most lowly of inns was called the landlord.

This is an echo of past times, because the person who owned or administered the land of manors and estates was also known as the landlord.

Nowadays, we know, quite instinctively, the difference between an hotel, a boarding house and an inn but in the past, such distinctions were not very clear. Less than a century ago, there was no legal definition of an hotel and, any description tended to include boarding houses and inns.

However, some inns did not include sleeping accommodation for guests, while some hotels did not sell intoxicating liquor. While there were many similarities between such establishments, there were also many differences.

At one stage, an inn was described as"a house where a traveller is furnished with everything he has need for upon his way"

but that definition could include either a hotel or a boarding house. Some 80 years ago, Mr Henry Parr Maskell, author of The Taverns of Old England, (Philip Allan and Co, 1927) produced this distinction - "The gentry drive up to the Royal Victoria Hotel on West Green, commercial folk go to the Bell Inn on the High Street, and they do have beds at the Old Sun on the way to the river, but that's only an inn."

There was no doubt that the hotels of the past, while perhaps accommodating the wealthiest members of society, also provided a useful public service in providing rooms for meetings, conferences, fairs, wedding parties and so forth (much as the old manor houses used to do) but some of our local village inns are now emulating their example.

One report recently suggested that every day in England, four village inns are closing their doors forever, unable to survive in the face of severe competition.

That comes from high taxation, supermarkets selling cheap liquor and the inception of the smoking ban.

On the other hand, enterprising owners of village inns are expanding their facilities with some now containing village shops and post offices, while offering rooms for a variety of other purposes such as meetings for clubs and societies. One has installed a room to be used by those without computers, offering broadband and free access to the internet, while also supplying coffee and refreshments, along with daily newspapers.

One wonders whether the modern village inns are now taking over the former role of manor houses in becoming the necessary focal point of the community.

THERE used to be some humorous attempts to persuade people to enter inns.

One sign used to read: "In this house is sold the best beer - a penny a pint", while perhaps the best known was "Free beer here tomorrow." When people entered the following day for their free drinks, the landlord would remind them it was free tomorrow, not that day.

One that appeared all over England in various different forms said, Drink here, the best beare.' People would pop into that inn to point out the wrong spelling but, of course, that was deliberate.

The landlord reckoned that half his custom came from people telling him he couldn't spell properly. A similar sign can sometimes be found in modern times, announcing a Beare Garden.' One inn called The Halfpenny House, said to be near Richmond, owed its name to the toll road which passed by. Travellers on that road were allowed to drop the halfpenny toll fee into a box provided at the inn - a useful device for attracting customers.

Another displayed a wonderful sign that read "Praise God for all brandy, rum, whisky and other spirituous liquors".

Bad payers were also noted in such verses, one reading: "As trusting of late has been my sorrow, pay me today and I'll trust you tomorrow."

Stories of our village inns are stories of our society, and we should all do our utmost to ensure these valuable centres of our communities do not fade away.

AS I opened the blind in our kitchen this morning, I was rewarded by a bright and sunny day, but in view was a massive bullfinch making a feast of some buds of my neighbour's blossoming cherry tree. The plump red breast of this handsome bird was strikingly visible as he went about his destructive work.

That dumpy red waistcoat with a black cap, black and white wings and a distinctive white rump make the bullfinch so easily recognisable, but the damage caused by bullfinches to fruit trees and flowering shrubs is often so great as to make this bird an enemy of horticulturists.

One of the largest and most colourful of the finch family, the bullfinch can be found throughout Britain all the year round but sadly, its appetite for new buds makes it unwelcome in many areas.

IHAVE received a note to say Catterick Village Local History Group is staging an exhibition in the Social Club at Catterick High Street tomorrow from 1pm until 4pm. Admission is free and the exhibition will feature haunted inns, links with Nelson, Roman Stones, Catterick Camp railway, the Tricentenary House, poetry and publishing and much more. If you're interested in anything Catterick, that's the place to be.