 The front of the building is built in ashlar, of local oolithic stone.The Angel thus lays claim to being the oldest surviving Inn in England, sitting on what was once the Great North Road.It is widely held that the Angel Inn was once a "commandery of the Knights Templar" (as reported in both White's 1846 "History, gazetteer, and directory of Leicestershire" and Allen's 1834 "History of the county of Lincoln").