Hanley Swan

Hanley Swan is a small village in the English county of Worcestershire. It lies in the Malvern Hills district, between the towns of Malvern (2 miles away) and Upton-upon-Severn (approximately 3 miles away). Together with the nearby  village of Hanley Castle, its population  is about 1500. The traditional English village centre includes a village green and pond, a pub, a Social Club and a village stores. Hanley Swan won the 2009 Calor Herefordshire and Worcestershire Village of the Year competition, a heat of the national Village of the year competition. Hanley Swan was an inspiration for the setting of the novel Black Swan Green by David Mitchell.

History
The Church of Our Lady and St Alphonsus was built, shortly after restrictions against Catholic churches were lifted in 1829, by descendants of Thomas Hornyold who had aided Charles II's escape. As elsewhere in Worcestershire, the continuing Catholic connections of the county meant that new Catholic churches were established with greater funding than in many other parts of the country.