Our History

A Manor House is Born

Built during the reign of Richard II in the year 1383, the inn known as the Chequer began life as a standard Hall-House with detached kitchen, in the Manor of Chequer and Chilton, Ash next Sandwich. For many years it served as the manor house of these estates.

The property was owned by John de Septvans, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer—from which the house later derived its name. The Septvans family (sometimes known as the Harflets) held the property for almost a century and a half.

From Hall to Home

The open medieval hall was divided, with a hall floor or upper floor inserted to create the two-storey layout you see today. The building was evolving from grand manor to something more intimate.

A Wool Merchant's Vision

Stacks were added and the parlour chamber was delineated away, with attic rooms added above. At this date the property was held by Nicholas Haines, a wool merchant of Canterbury, formerly of Chartham.

By 1603, ownership passed to William Leggatt, a property owner of Canterbury who also held estates at Sandwich, Eastry and Dover.

Licensed to Pour

In 1674, the property was purchased by Thomas Roberts, hop grower and brewer of Canterbury. Roberts was granted a licence at Dover in May 1674 to supply ales and ciders to the parish of Ash. The Chequer's long tenure as a public house had begun.

In 1676, a three-bay stable block was added to the property to serve the growing trade.

Richard & Elizabeth Hollingbury

The house was purchased by Richard Hollingbury, brewer of the borough of Staplegate within the walls of Canterbury. In July of that year a joint licence was issued to Hollingbury and his wife Elizabeth, and they carried on business together.

Richard brewed the ales whilst Elizabeth retailed them—a true family enterprise.

Post-Boys & Royal Mail

At the height of the coaching era, The Chequer became an established Post House where mail was collected and sorted. Two post boys were employed at the inn for a period of thirty years.

Living quarters were provided in an attic room where they slept on small wooden beds suspended from the rafters. On the opposite corner of the inn was the village pound where they watered their horses. The post boys employed in the 1780s were John Silver, aged 63, and Thomas Mallett, aged 58—though the term "boys" is applied, Silver was hardly young!

Saved by the Village

After more than 340 years of continuous service, The Chequer faced an uncertain future when it closed in 2014. But the village wasn't ready to say goodbye—locals rallied together to save their pub from conversion to housing, reopening the doors in 2019.

Now under Kim and Ian's care, The Chequer continues to do what it has done for centuries: welcome friends old and new.