In days gone by, the old market town of Hingham had more than 20 pubs, but now it's just got one - The White Hart Hotel in the Market Place.

And with customers coming from a wide area, it was not surprising that on my visit it was pretty packed with people enjoying the food and wide selection of drinks.

Manager Marc Phipps said the pub/hotel attracts people from far and wide, and many of them must be fascinated to learn about the pub and the town's history.

Everybody knows that Abraham Lincoln's ancestors once lived in Hingham. And American history books would look very different had his six-times-removed great-granddad Richard Lincoln not been involved in an unseemly domestic dispute. Richard married four times and, after his death, the son by his first wife – Edward - missed out on his father's inheritance.

Historians believe that had Edward inherited his father's money his son Samuel might never have left Norfolk to make a new life in America and Abraham Lincoln wouldn't have been born Stateside.

Samuel was born in Hingham, Norfolk in 1622 and died in Hingham, Massachusetts in 1690, having left Norfolk as a 15-year-old to start a new life in the New World.

Mr Phipps is not sure about the pub's history, but a cursory look on the internet suggests that it dates back to the 15th century. That means that Abraham Lincoln's ancestors may well have supped at the inn. The ales available to punters then would have been very different, with current favourites, Konigs Pilsner and Bitter Old Bustard not likely to be on tap.

But today's pub, which is part of chef Chris Coubrough (ITV's Coastal Kitchens) Flying Kiwi Inns chain, still brings in the punters partly because of its old-fashioned feel and the fireplace that keeps customers warm in the winter.

Mr Phipps has been the manager for just over a year, and was previously manager at the Crown Inn in East Rudham, which is also run by Mr Coubrough.

He said: 'As this is now the only pub in Hingham, the nice thing about it is that we have a very strong local trade. On the weekends we even get people from London dining here. We're quite lucky in that we don't just rely on summer trade, and are busy all year round.'

Originally from Leicestershire, he worked at pubs in Australia, and enjoys the lifestyle. 'I like the fact you can be speaking to a helicopter pilot one minute, and a farmer, the next.'

The pub serves three real ales and don't be surprised by some of the artefacts, including a wooden Indian, on show.