Stage Coach Arrives at the Inn

Above: ‘Halt at the Inn’ by John Maggs.

Some of the most evocative coaching scenes ever painted were by John Charles Maggs (1819-1896). He was born in Bath and lived his whole life there although he travelled to many other towns and cities in England, including London. There were probably plenty of stagecoaches to be seen in the early years of his life. He painted a series of famous coaching inns, and also a series of 80 metropolitan inns, in which he exploited the picturesque and historical aspect of his subject. His scenes included paintings of coaches arriving at London inns.

Maggs clearly had a feel for the dramatic and the painting at the top is a good example. The title is simply ‘Halt at the Inn’ which gives no clue as to where it might be. It is obviously a large inn and is, therefore, most likely to have been in a large town or even a city. The scene depicts the entrance to an inn at dusk. The lamp over the entry arch is lit and it is a cold night with snow falling. To keep them warm, blankets have been placed over the backs of the horses as they are led into the yard. A second coach is hurrying by.

The stagecoaches were so-called because the coach was pulled by four horses who travelled between 10 and 20 miles before they needed to be changed with a new ‘four’ which then travelled on to another coaching inn. The coach travelled the entire distance and so it was pulled in stages by different sets of horses. The arriving coach is well laden with a large tarpaulin on top probably covering several travelling trunks and cases. There is a lantern on the side of the arriving coach and there would have been another one on the other side. Burning oil, they were the only means of lighting the route on the dark country roads.

Being a coachman was an arduous job. The road surfaces in towns were poor and, in the country, they were often no more than deeply rutted tracks in the mud. In wintry conditions, the surface would be rock-hard and very dangerous for such a coach. There were no signposts along the open road and so the driver just had to know the route. When snow covered the tracks, the driver needed to recognise the route from the trees or possibly a distant view of a church or large house. Very often, coach drivers lost their way. Because the horses were changed at intervals of about 15 miles, each stage of the journey took about one or two hours. When the horses were changed, the coach did not always stop for long enough to allow passengers a comfort stop and certainly not for a meal. After possibly two or maybe three changes of horses, there would be a stop for long enough to get a drink and a bite to eat. At some inns, the horses were changed and other passengers would get on or leave. It should be remembered that the inside of the coach only held four or six passengers with another six on top. The driver sat up the front – sometimes on a seat in front of the other passengers but not always. Some coaches were designed to have passengers sitting beside the driver. At the back of the coach, there was often a guard – carrying a long coaching horn to announce the imminent arrival of a coach. He often carried a gun or pistol with which he could protect the passengers from attacks by highwaymen.

John Maggs would have known all the above information. It was common knowledge in the 18th century. It is only now that all these commonplace facts have to be explained. It could be a cold and very uncomfortable experience for the 18th-century stagecoach traveller in the winter time.

-ENDS-