Dear Mr Fulton
Thank you for your email to the Duke of Devonshire, which has been passed to me for reply.
The turnpike road known as the ‘Snake’ Road was sanctioned by Act of Parliament in 1818 and the road was open by 1821. The Snake Inn was built in 1821 and was originally known as Lady Clough House but the name was soon changed to the Snake Inn as a tribute to the 6th Duke of Devonshire who, had acted as one of the guarantors for the Turnpike Trust and whose crest incorporated a snake. In other words the road was named after the inn and not the other way round. The property was built as an inn and not a shooting lodge although shooting parties regularly used the accommodation it provided well into the 20th century.
I hope that this answers your question.
Yours sincerely
Stuart Band
Archivist. The Devonshire Collection.