An inn has stood on the site of the Swan Hotel on the north side of the town bridge since at least 1507, when the location was first documented. The inn pictured in the unattributed oil painting above is a shorter building, much closer to the river than today's Swan Hotel. The modern Swan is a Georgian construction with ionic columns built in 1794, designed by Henry Holland at the behest of the 5th Duke of Bedford. The stonework of the hotel was finished by John Wing, who was three times Mayor of Bedford and was also involved in the construction of Bedford Prison. Wing cannibalised materials from Houghton House which the Duke owned and had dismantled; these included chimneys and a staircase which can still be seen. The right-hand arch in the photograph above was removed around 1890 in order to widen the Embankment. Well fed swans are a regular feature on the Ouse along The Embankment and by the Swan Hotel, but "The Swan"  is a popular name for public houses in Bedfordshire: the county is in the diocese of Lincoln, and Saint Hugh of Lincoln has traditionally been associated with a tame swan.