Old George

This building has been demolished

The Old George stood at 40 High Street, on the south side of the road. It was described in the 1914 Valuation as being very old although it is not known when the inn was first established. In 1700 Richard Fitzwater was the proprietor of a house, yard and orchard, and on his death three years later he left the property, "commonly known by the sign of The George in Mortlake Street" to his wife Ann. The inn remained in Fitzwater family hands until 1745. By 1826 the inn was called the Old George, probably a reference to George III who died in 1820. In 1836 the owner was Young and Bainbridge and the landlord George Day. He died in 1855 and his wife continued as landlady until 1862.

The 1901 Census describes Edward Cox as the licenced victualler who lived on the premises with his wife Elizabeth and their sons Henry and Ernest who were both apprenticed to an engine fitter.

The 1914 Valuation describes the brick-built public house as being owned by Young's brewery. On the top floor was a loft; the first floor had three old rooms and the ground floor a club room, two bars and a serving bar. The previous year an extension had been built to include a brick-built kitchen and scullery. There was also a modern brick-built coach house with a flat zinc roof at the back, along with stabling for 12 horses with a loft over them. There was a urinal in the yard which ran from the High Street to Vineyard Path.

The inn was a popular social centre, with wooden settles, matchboarding on the walls, low ceilings and uneven stone flags. In the early 20th century a modern dining room was added. The Odd Fellows held their meetings there. The last landlord was Walter Clegg who died in June 1968 just two months before the Old George closed in August. It was demolished to make way for the widening of the High Street.