In this article about the old pubs of Wickham Market we are looking at The Chequers, which is located at 220 High Street.

The Chequers Inn was a distinctive and historic public house, notable for its “double” house structure. When viewed from the north, the road-facing front is clearly built onto an older rear portion. The core of the building is believed to date from the 16th century, featuring timber framing and plaster walls, and is easily recognized by its three distinctive dormer windows. Over the centuries, the building underwent various reconstructions and refrontings, but some early timber elements have survived.

For centuries, pubs such as The Chequers were more than just places to drink; they served as community hubs, places where neighbours met, news was shared, deals were struck, and celebrations were held.

Historical Landlords and Proprietors

Although detailed licence records are sparse compared with some other local inns, surviving newspaper references, trade directories and our archives allow us to trace a number of landlords and tenants connected with The Chequers over the centuries:

• William Hart — recorded as landlord in the Ipswich Journal in 1741, operating “the Chequer in Wickham Market”
• Mr Tuffield — documented in 1768 as the tenant at The Chequers at the time of a sale/auction notice in the Ipswich Journal.
• James Foreman — recorded in the 1830 Pigot’s Directory.
• James Girling — identified in 1839 Pigot’s Directory.
• William Nicholls – 1841 Census – managed the pub with his family of seven. ​
• Elizabeth Nickles – 1851 Census to 1855 – Listed as the licensed victualler during this period. ​(This is probably the same family, with a spelling variation on the Census form).
• Louisa Good – on the 1861 Census.
• Louisa Pitcher – 1871 Census. Continued the tradition of female innkeepers at The Chequers. ​
• Isaac Leggett – 1881 Census to 1888. ​
• George and Ellen Hunter – 1898.
• Frederick Turtel – 1912 to 1937 – A long-serving publican.
• Edith Turtel – 1933.
• Frederick John Turtel – 1937 – Continued the family tradition of running The Chequers.
• George and Joyce Pratt – 1985.
• Anthony and Ethel Fox – 1987 – the last known innkeepers before the pub’s closure.

Following its closure, the building was converted to residential use — a fate shared by many former public houses with historic value but limited commercial viability. While the pub no longer stands as a place of hospitality, the Grade II-listed structure remains, preserving its historic façade and echoes of its past.

The inn’s location at the junction of Bridge Street and Spring Lane placed it at a historic crossing point, possibly dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period when the area may have served as a village green or market space.

Its layered history, including its role as a coaching inn, reflects the evolution of Wickham Market as a community and its importance as a stop along the Yarmouth-London Road. The article below was printed in The Woodbridge Reporter and Wickham Market Gazette on 3rd May 1894. It starts by talking about The Chequers and then goes on to recount tales of some of the carriers who called in there.

The Chequers Inn is an old house which is more observable by its interior than its exterior. Connected with it formerly was a brewery but since the house has been a tied one it has been disused. Here many years ago resided Mr. James Girling, whose widow removed to the George Inn. After Mrs Girling’s removal from the Chequers it was taken by Mr William Nickels, who formerly resided at Orford.  Both Mr and Mrs Nickels were quiet people and remained in the house as long as they lived, Mrs Nichols outliving her husband a number of years. Here in her day could be obtained the best pickled pork in the place, looking like a cherry when it was cooked, and not like some that you can imagine have the jaundice. The Chequers has always been a carrier’s house; here Smith’s great waggon, as it was called, with its four horses stayed. What a commodious one it was, in it you could journey to London but had to make up your mind to be a night or two on the road. A journey to London in those days meant something. Other carriers passing through the place, were Sawyer, Coates, Hart, Rouse, Meen, Nic Holmes, and Cordle,  while Michael Mayhew plied between Wickham Market and Ipswich. Michael was succeeded by his son Isaac and he by his son Samuel.  At the present time the business is carried on by Mr. James Grout assisted by his factotum ‘Cheerful Alfred’.  Of all the old carriers only Meen and that carried on by Grout remain. Since the onward march of the railroad, traffic is being taken from the road to a great extent, and yet now in many instances the carrier can and does compete favourably with the Railway Company for short distances. One other old carrier in the place was Tom Tyler who plied between Wickham and Woodbridge. Tom’s conveyance was what well might have been called “slow and easy”. He was a cheerful old man, a thorough Nonconformist of the Baptist persuasion, and one of the best of hearers. How he would drink in the words specially if it was spiced with calvanism. He had a telegraph code of his own which some knew and during the sermon would be put into motion. He was not ashamed of his principles and was generally respected in the place and died much regretted. The old order changeth and the new and faster mode of travelling and living is ushered in, is it more conducive to national prosperity and individual happiness?  Can life have crowded into it in ten years the work of twenty, without paying the penalty?  Verily not.