Walking into the pedestrianised street of modern shops in Reading’s Broad Street, there’s one building in your view that looks a little bit out of place. The timber-framed front of The George Hotel today houses a courtyard, restaurant, coffee shop and a place for visitors to stay. But its history is a long one, and it’s been the scene of scuffles, government business and a pitstop for weary travellers.
The George Hotel, Reading |
Although The George can be seen from Broad Street, it is situated at 11-12 King Street in the town, opposite the historic Jackson’s Corner and next to Minster Street, which leads down to Reading Minster and St Mary’s Butts. A sign on the frontage marks the date 1531, but it can be found in records standing in 1423, the second year of the reign of Henry VI. In the sixteenth century, Tudor Reading was occupied with the cloth trade, with dyers, clothiers and leatherworkers doing business from their shops and homes. In 1513, the year that Henry VIII went on campaign to France, there is a record for ‘bere and ale to my lord Chamberlain’s serjeants’, showing that those connected with power stopped here for a drink or two. The George would have seen increased trade during royal visits, with parliament being held at the nearby Reading Abbey a number of times in the medieval period. It would also have seen some scandal. We have already ascertained that The George was in business from 1423, and in 1464 Edward IV introduced Elizabeth Woodville, his secret bride, to his advisors for the first time. One ambassador noted that Reading’s streets were busy with nobles plotting how they could have the marriage annulled. It’s very likely that some of these then, popped into The George – a one or two minute walk away - for a plate of meat and some ale while they conspired.
In the seventeenth century, there was no shortage of inns and taverns in Reading. The Corporation Diaries mention the strict controls the town placed on how these establishments were run, and some residents were investigated and punished for running their own makeshift alehouses, or harbouring vagrants or criminals. Elizabethans visiting The George would have seen The Cock Inn, mentioned in 1565, standing opposite the building. Other inns and alehouses standing in the town in later years included The Bear, The Katherine Wheel, The Cardinal’s Hat and The Crown. The Three Tuns is mentioned in seventeenth-century Corporation records, and still stands today on Wokingham Road. Just across from the George was a house said to have been owned by Elizabeth I's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham.
Inside the Courtyard of The George, Reading (taken in 2021, may not represent current view) |
Despite there being clearly a great deal of choice, The George seems to have been the preferred place for talk of town business. This may have been due to its size, age or even a perception that it was one of the calmer or ‘nicer’ establishments in town. Reading’s residents were known to openly criticise or mock men in charge of local government, and in February 1631 it was heard that one Humphrey Parker had said that ‘the town was governed by a company of geese in furred gowns’. Two years before, a boy was committed to the gaol (then on Castle Street), for making up songs and sonnets that ‘abused’ the Mayor and his magistrates.
On 11 January 1631, perhaps feeling that it was a safe place to talk, the town’s Mayor and other officials met at The George to discuss ‘Kendrick’s business’, possibly concerning the erection of The Oracle workhouse a few doors’ away. John Kendrick, a Reading clothier, had stipulated in his will that a workhouse be established for the poor, having died in 1624. In 1632, a Corporation representative, Francis Thackham, spent 12d in The George – an equivalent today to around £6. The particulars are not recorded but were likely to have been in return for a meal and a drink. The accounts show the exact same amount spent there on 3 October 1634. Eight years before, in 1626, an apprentice from London visited the town and spent 10 shillings, with an equivalent spending power to around £60 today. He also visited The Bell in Reading, where he spent a similar amount for a 4-night stay, so it may have been that Robert Woodd lodged here at The George, too. In the summer of 1668 the famous diarist Samuel Pepys visited Reading and wrote about the curious sign of the nearby inn The Broad Face. The place where Pepys must have stood to look up at the building, in today’s High Street just off the Market Place, is opposite The George and Pepys must have at least seen the inn. He did stay here the night, but as the location of his lodgings was not recorded, it is difficult to say if it was at The George.
The inn was not only a meeting point for town councillors and a place for visitors to stay, it was also one for tax collectors too. On 10 November 1647 ‘six able and substantial men’ were ordered to meet ‘at the sign of The George in Reading’ on 3 December to receive instructions for the assessment of a tax on the people. Presumably they were to coerce handing over of money with their physical strength as well as sweet-talking the people of the town.
The George was itself associated with the odd scrap between townsfolk, and one particularly serious altercation took place on 21 September 1639. Townspeople were going about their business when they heard a commotion at The George, and calls for help. A man named Thomas Soundey was found lying on the floor with head wounds, along with another named Morris Nashe. Swords and staves were littered around The George’s courtyard, and the surgeon, Richard Mace, was called to attend on the wounded. Bandaging them up and assuring them their injuries were not life-threatening, an investigation took place as to the cause of the fight. The perpetrators were named as Mr William Keate of Hagbourne and a man called Cumber of Tilehurst. After some questioning, investigators concluded that the fight had been about a dog. Another similar episode occurred on 11 January 1641, when Edward Vindge, a town butcher, ‘caused a tumult in The George gate-house, by setting and causing dog-fighting and other brabbles, to the disturbance of the King’s Majesty’s Justices and other gentlemen then at dinner, and did then strike the said Humphrey Dewell, and abused him in words’. Edward Vindge apologised, and, presumably the high and mighty of the town of Reading got back to finishing their dinner.
Today’s frontage of The George is a later addition, a common addition in the eighteenth century, to hide the courtyard behind. Originally it would have looked like a timber-framed building nestled in with others on Reading’s busy main street. However it has a rich history, and one that should not be forgotten as we walk through today’s modern town. Even today, you can visit The George for a coffee, sit in the bar or eat a meal in the adjacent restaurant. You can also stay the night. Visit their website here.
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