Built in the 19th century,[1] it was originally a coaching inn for travellers making their way to local towns and villages.

[4] In 1847, the billiard room of the three-storey building hosted the first county court session in the town.

[5] Beginning in 1897, an auction mart occupied the land behind the building,[6] formerly the pub's gardens, until it was replaced by today's car park.

Some of the walls of the auction mart are still standing, with the rings for the tethering of bulls still attached.

Tom Lockwood, landlord of the pub in the 19th century, formed Catterall & Swarbrick Brewery Ltd. in 1880 with fellow locals William Catterall and John Swarbrick.