The George Inn

The George Inn in Southwark is London's last surviving galleried coaching inn, rebuilt in 1677 after Southwark's great fire. Originally recorded in 1542 as Saint George and the Dragon, only one-third of the structure remains following railway demolitions in 1889. Frequented by Charles Dickens and featured in his novel Little Dorrit, the Grade I listed property was gifted to the National Trust in 1937.

London Β· from the walk β€œLast Orders Through the Ages” Β· audio ~4 min Β· Generated

The George Inn

The George Inn, 77 Borough High Street, Southwark, London SE1 1NH

Why is The George Inn significant as London's last surviving galleried coaching inn?

Welcome to The George Inn... London's Last surviving galleried coaching inn. Take a moment. Look up at those wooden galleries, those leaning timber frames. Do you notice how the building seems to sway and ripple? That's not your first pint talking... that's over three centuries of timber slowly warping with age.......... The earliest records of this pub date back to fifteen forty-two. But back then it was called Saint George and the Dragon. The words "Saint" and "Dragon" both disappeared in Cromwellian times... because the Puritans, though they tolerated taverns, Abhorred saints as savouring of Popery. So the Dragon was slain, and the Saint was banished. Only "The George" survived.......... Now, the building you see today is Not that original pub. The inn was badly damaged by fire in sixteen sixty-nine and then Destroyed in the great fire that engulfed much of South-wark in sixteen seventy-six. Not the famous Great Fire of London... this was South-wark's own inferno, ten years later. It was rebuilt, on the same footprint, in sixteen seventy-seven.......... And here's what most people don't realize. What you're looking at is only One Third of the original structure. The building originally surrounded three sides of the courtyard. The Great Northern Railway Company demolished the north and east wings in eighteen eighty-nine to make way for warehouses. The railways that killed the coaching trade literally Ate this building.......... Now... did Shakespeare really drink here? While there's no definitive proof, during his lifetime South-wark was London's theatre district... home to The Globe, The Rose, and other venues within walking distance of The George. Before the rise of purpose-built theatres, plays were often performed in the open courtyards of galleried inns. So while we can't prove it... the legend is entirely plausible.......... One person who Definitely drank here was Charles Dickens. The Middle Bar was the Coffee Room, which was frequented by Dickens. He immortalised it in his novel Little Dorrit as the place where the title character's brother wrote his begging letters.......... And here's a detail most visitors miss entirely. Winston Churchill himself visited the George and brought his own port... although the landlady, Agnes Murray, charged him four shillings and sixpence corkage! That woman was Not intimidated by power.......... After Agnes Murray died in nineteen thirty-four, the inn passed to Harold and Leslie Staples, enthusiastic Dickens fans known as the "Cheeryble Brothers." When the structure became unstable, the railway company gifted The George to the National Trust. That was nineteen thirty-seven. And that gift is the Only reason you're standing here today.......... So raise a glass of real ale... this pub is listed in the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. You're drinking in a Grade One listed building, surrounded by the ghosts of pilgrims, playwrights, and passengers who once rattled off from this very courtyard to Canterbury, Dover, and Brighton. Cheers.

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