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The George

The exact age of the George at Stamford in Lincolnshire is unknown, but it is thought that there has been an inn on this site at the crossing of the river Welland for over 1000 years. Documents exist which indicate that the George was included in a gift from King Edred to the Abbey of Croyland, and this has been used to roughly date the George.

The present George has grown, so that the old inn has come to incorporate the two religious houses which once stood on either side. On the south side stood the house of the Holy Sepulchre, where pilgrims would rest on their journey to Jerusalem. Remains of this ancient building can be seen in the crypt under what is now the cocktail bar, and in the short passage leading to the garden.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when people began to travel more widely the George had a great repuation. Charles the First stayed here in 1641 and in 1645, at the height of the Civil War.

By the eighteenth century the George had become an important coaching inn, serving travellers on the Great North Road between London and York, a four day journey. Visitors today can still enter the George and see two doors, one marked London and the other York, former waiting rooms for travellers assembling for their coaches north or south. A gallows sign was erected at this time across the road from the George. This was a sign of welcome for the honest traveller, and a sign of warning to the notorious highwaymen of the time, men such as Tom King and Dick Turpin who preyed on the coach traffic.

The George has now been modernised, with care given to preserving its unique historical features. The inn would still be a good place of rest for travellers on the road between York and London.