The late eighteenth century building facing the south steps of the Church possibly stands on the site of a much older hostelry and farm, which was up-dated for the turnpike traffic. It used to have extra stabling which was also pressed into use at times of church services to accommodate horses and carriages.
From the mid-seventeenth century until the early 1900s, the two properties facing the Church and Glebe Cottage belonged to the Walters family who were blacksmiths and farriers in Checkley and the surrounding parishes. In 1837, William Walters resided in the property now known as Manor Farm and Manor House, and part of it had been run as a private boarding school for young ladies by his wife since around 1800. From the mid-1840s to the mid-1860s, the school was kept by Miss Mira Weston and two of her sisters but it then closed.