Built in the reign of Richard 2nd between 1377 and 1399, it was timber-framed wattle and daub with thatched roof until rebuilt. Inside the inn is a bread oven built into an inglenook fireplace. There is still a spy-hole, once used by the smugglers, to view the marshes searching for Revenue men. Cock fighting took place here until 1904. The Walnut Tree exhibits ghostly manifestations. these include a smuggler, who expired in the pub during a poker game with a gang of outlaws. His throat was slit, with his body was thrown down a well. There have been further reports of several phantom children in Victorian style dress being seen and heard in the bars. Aldington Knoll, nearby, , people have claimed, to be the burial site of a giant. Author, H.G. Wells, said this site was the entrance to fairyland.