We have been
to the highest pub in England, the first and the last,
and the smallest. We should go to the oldest, but
no one seems to agree on which one it is. 'Continually
licensed' seems to be a yardstick, and certainly The
George's opening date of 1397 qualifies it as old.
The 'Olde
Trip to Jerusalem' in Nottingham certainly seems
to be rather vocal about being the oldest, claiming
an opening date of 1189, and the strength of their
argument is that everyone agrees on that date. But
then the Bell Inn in Finedon wades in with a date
of 1042, which is countered by the Bingley Arms in
Leeds at 905 (but it was knocked down and completely
rebuilt in 1539), which in turn is faced with a Guinness
Book of World Records entry that definitively lists
'Ye
Olde Fighting Cocks' in St. Albans as the oldest
with a date of somewhere between 795 and 1485.
And there is the
problem.
If ale was served
in a building 1200 years ago, then the building knocked
down, rebuilt as a pigeon coop, knocked down again,
abandoned, then re-opened as a pub, even 500 years
ago, does that still qualify as a 1200 year old pub?
I think not. However, if the pub opened 1200 years
ago, burned down in 1325 and was rebuilt as a pub,
does that qualify? Yes, I think it does. Continually
licensed seems to be the benchmark for evaluation.
A pleasant gentleman
from the London
Times actually managed to persuade his editor
to let him go and visit all the claimants to the title
of Oldest Pub in England. Now, there is a guy with
some serious negotiation skills! He concluded this:
My vote is the
'Trip to Jersalem', but I would welcome a spirited
discussion on the matter with any interested parties.
In a pub. Over beer.
I get the impression
that this pub has always been relatively well-to-do,
whether during the height of the wool trade or during
more troubled times such as the Civil War. A complete
refurbishment by Wadworths in 1998 was no doubt geared
towards the upper echelons of the pub trade. The outside
looks nice, but the inside is spectacular, all oak
panels and stone floors and vintage furniture. The
bench settle we sat on to drinks our beers was engraved
with a date of 1709, and everywhere you looked there
was something that looked very old and very valuable.
Indeed, during the extensive and expensive renovations,
workmen discovered two murals thought to have been
created in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries.
The floral paintings were found in a bedroom and in
a corridor and are thought to have been the work of
traveling artists.
At this point,
much of the George ceases to be 'neat old stuff' and
becomes a site of significant historical interest,
and indeed is now a Grade One Listed Building.
Of course, questions
of pub integrity come to mind. In being so careful
to restore and renovate this ancient pub, have they
created a museum? Part of the appeal of the Thwaite
is all the damage done to the plasterwork by errant
darts, but that could never be allowed to happen to
oak paneling (maybe rightly so?).
There is no doubt
that the George is a particularly noteworthy Monument
to Pub History, but for a pub to be a pub it needs
to be used, and therein lies the difference between
the George and say, the Packhorse. Both interesting
and appealing in their own right, but one is a pub
and one possibly is not.
The George Inn
was at the center of the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685,
as the Duke of Monmouth used the pub as a base before
setting out to the Battle of Sedgemoor. Monmouth was
the illegitimate child of Charles II and mistress
Lucy Walter, but nonetheless believed himself to be
as rightful an heir to the throne, as the present
ruler, James II. Furthermore, James was a Roman Catholic,
which much of the population of England, and certainly
most of the country's hierarchy did not necessarily
want. Parliamentary opponents of James II saw Monmouth
as a possible alternative to a king they did not support.
The Protestants had run things pretty much the way
they wanted for quite some time, and objected to having
to do things differently.
So Monmouth set
off from Holland intent on wresting the crown from
James II. The invading force was, promisingly, made
up of well-trained and experienced troops. History
has given us an image of rank upon rank of troops
marching their way proudly across Holland towards
the coast and on to England. However, there were only
sixty of them. Today, the entire force would hardly
fill a good-sized bus. Monmouth's plan was to gather
support as he made his way through the supportive
Protestant southwest after landing at Lyme Regis on
the south coast. The troops he gathered were mostly
farming stock who armed themselves with anything they
could find, earning the nickname of the 'Pitchfork
Army'. They took a few small towns, and stopped in
at the George for a swift half.
Monmouth ambitiously
tried to take Bristol, failed, and went for Bath instead.
Failed. He retreated to Bridgewater, fully aware that
the King’s troops were hard on his heals. He
took his only chance, and in early hours of a July
morning, turned around silently stole towards the
Royal encampment. Unfortunately, his poorly trained
troops made too much noise and, sooner than he had
hoped, the battle was on.
The Battle of
Sedgemoor was a rout. Monmouth and his pitchfork-weilding
troops were up against the dashing Duke of Marlborough
aka John Churchill (yes, those Churchills) who is
today recognized as one of the finest British Generals
in history. Marlborough was backed up by the very
competent Lord Feversham. The poorly equipped peasants
were no match for the 3,000 trained troops of the
Crown. Monmouth fled but was captured three days later
and promptly beheaded.
The support the
local community showed for the Rebellion was not well
received in Royal circles, and retribution in the
form of the infamous 'Bloody Assizes' was swift and
extensive, and not forgotten to this day, by either
side. It is said that when Queen Victoria came by
train to Bridgewater in 1882, she closed the blinds
of her carriage as a sign of royal displeasure. But
the local population was also more than a bit upset
about having their neighbors and friends hanged, drawn,
and quartered. Recently there was an amateur re-enactment
of the battle at Sedgemoor, and some publicans refused
to serve those playing the King's troops.
Visit this pub
for its place in history, but do not visit it to mix
with the locals or experience a true English pub.
