The Chequers has over 500 years of history...

The Chequers, which dates back to the 16th Century, was once an infamous coaching Inn catering for the thirsty hoards travelling the London-Kings Lynn road, and also offered a side line in overnight coffin storage for those returning bodies to Cambridge… who knows how many of those ghosts still linger!

Over the years The Chequers has hosted many colourful characters, perhaps most prominently Samuel Pepys, who stayed at The Chequers in February 1660. As an avid diarist he couldn’t fail to mention us, you can see a copy of his diary entry framed in the bar in which states that he ate ‘a breast of veal roasted’… sounds like a wild night Sam, glad you enjoyed!

The Chequers has also provided refuge for more than just the weary traveller- above the bar you can see an old priest hole that hid clergy during the period of Catholic persecution.

During WWII the Fowlmere Airstrip was used by the US Army Air Forces & most notably by the distinguished 339th Fighter Group who achieved great feats in battle, and were hugely influential in the allied victory. The Chequers became the regular drinking spot of the 339th Fighter Group - if only walls could talk!  
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In more recent times, The Chequers reached great heights of popularity and critical acclaim in the experienced hands of Norman and Pauline Rushton. They owned and ran The Chequers for 24 years from 1980 until 2004. They achieved great things. The Chequers gained a  fantastic reputation as a destination restaurant, and many people still talk fondly of their memories of The Chequers as it was during that period.​

These days The Chequers is a family friendly, dog friendly village pub. In a village that until recently had 5 pubs, The Chequers is the last remaining. I wonder what future generations will think of this era of its history… 

If you have an enquiry, please feel free to drop us an email at thechequersfowlmere@gmail.com
or call us on 01763 209 333