Dating back to the early 1700s, the inn, a combined farm and hostelry, has a history not only of a drinking establishment but also as a meeting house and civic centre.Over the years it was used for meetings of the court baron and the coroner's court. The farm was credited with 73 acres, 6 acres lying to the rearof the inn but most of the land to the south of Barnett Wood Lane. Farm buildings stood near the inn and this photograph shows the demolition of one of these.