 She was one of 28 inn- and tavern-keepers who fell foul of Andover's official Ale Taster that year, as he carried out his duty—laid down in the town's Great Charter of 1599—to visit all licensed houses and taste the beer to ensure that it was "fit and meet for men's bodyes" and being sold at the correct price.Between 1787–1800, one of the wings of the inn was leased by Henry Thornton (1750–1818), a Georgian actor and theatre promoter, as a playhouse, staging up to 60 performances per year.Thornton had established a circuit of venues at coaching stops, each approximately 30 miles distant from each other—"a convenient length for a journey by coach on a winter's day."