The George Inn, Southwark Snapshot

On my walking tour of Southwark, I discovered a lot of fascinating things with Look Up London! Other than my Chaucer and Shakespeare related knowledge of Southwark, it was an entirely new area of London for me. I know that I don’t live there, but nearly a dozen trips total, I do have a fairly good knowledge of it. So, to explore a new neighbourhood, I was thrilled. What I loved most about this walk is that Katie didn’t focus on just one period in history, but all throughout London’s history. That includes the seventeenth century coaching inn, The George Inn!

The George Inn is a coaching inn that is now managed by the National Trust. Rebuilt in 1677 after a major fire, there has been an inn on the site since at least the mid sixteenth century. There were countless coaching inns in Southwark. If you travelled by coach to come into London, Southwark was the last place to stop before you crossed over London Bridge into London proper. (Nowadays, it all seems like one big city, but for much of the city’s history, Southwark and everything south of the Thames was not considered London.) And the courtyard that is now full of tables and seating areas was specifically big enough to allow coaches enough time to come in and turn around.

The George is known in particular for it’s wavy shape- turns out that timber can easily warp over time. It is now a pub, or should I say, a series of pubs! Each room has a different theme, with it’s own bar. And although it is clearly empty at 11:30 on a Sunday morning, it does get incredibly busy in the evenings and weekends. I think that the most famous patrons have to be William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, without a doubt. (Southwark truly is for the bookworms, if you had any question about it!)

Have you had a drink at the George Inn? 

Cheers,
The Historian
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