In September 1830, a 7.5 ton elephant, called Mademoiselle d'Jacque, stayed in the Green Man yard whilst her master stayed in the Inn. The elephant was on her way to Birmingham and followed behind her master who rode on a pony. The elephant was reported to have bowed to the toll gate keeper when entering the Town; and one man was so terrified that he froze to the spot and exclaimed “Will nobody tell me what it is? Will nobody stop it?”
The Green Man was built in the 1750s to service the growing coaching trade in Ashbourne. It had a “drive through” design with a central entrance for coaches and an exit onto neighbouring Dig Street.