About The George
The George, situated in the heart of Crewkerne, has provided travellers with a warm welcome, comfortable bed and much needed refreshment for over 400 years. The current owner Frank Joyce, purchased The George in 1994, and proudly continues the tradition whilst improving facilities to meet the requirements of the modern traveller.
We take great pride in our cellar and the full training of the staff.
History of The George
An Inn named in honour of the Patron Saint of England stood at the centre of Crewkerne since at least 1541. The present building dates from 1832. The facade of its neo-classical structure is built in traditional dressed hamstone. Its noble architectural features include a central open-pediment of brackets and a fine elliptical rustic archway, leading to what was once the Inn's Royal Mail-warranted stable yard.
Having been recognised coach stage as early as 1580, the George was acquired
in 1619 by Thomas Hutchings, Postmaster of Crewkerne. Mr Hutchings is credited
with having created the first profitable postal service in Britain, between
London and Exeter. During more than the two following centuries, The George
became and remained one of the principal posting/coaching inns in the South
West of England.
In 1726, Caleb King, Lord of the Manor of Easthams, acquired the Inn and its surrounding land, and owned it until his death in 1759. Tenanted during much of this period by the Budden family, ownership of the Inn, was bequeathed by King equally to his three children. One daughter, Margaret, married Hugh Yeatman, a respected surgeon who was a pioneer in the treatment of smallpox. Yeatman and two of his in-laws, Nathaniel Dalton and William Corfield, were at various times listed as ratepayers in respect of the George through the mid-late 18th century.
In 1802, John Slade, a prominent local property-owner, brewer and carrier, acquired the shares of the surviving King-Yeatman-Dalton-Corfield heirs with whom he had family connections, and thus reunified the ownership of The George. Slade died the year after the completion of the present building, and ownership passed to a relative, George Slade Jolliffe, also a surgeon, whose descendants remained freeholders of the property until 1919.
From 1842 until 1875, the George was tenanted by the Marsh family, whose fame extended far beyond Crewkerne. The comic magazine Punch, informed its readers that true genuine punch was to be obtained at only two places in England, one of which being the George of Crewkerne.
In 1887, another notable tenant, George Rugg (previously landlord of two other Crewkerne inns), presided over extensive rebuilding and renovation of the George and its annexes.
The turn of the last century found the George under the eye of H.J. Coston, who was judged by advertisements of the period, an energetic and entrepreneurial landlord. He served, subsequent to his connection with the George, as vice-chairman of the local Urban District Council.
Mr Coston's position at the centre of Crewkerne's public,commercial and
social life has continued until the present day to be mirrored by the George's
own place in the life of the region. Today, the George remains, as it has
for generations in the past, a haven for the traveller and a focal point
for the surrounding community at large.
source : Patrick Carroll Esq.
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