The George Hotel is a hotel and former

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...

on the route of the Great North Road in St Martin's, Stamford,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England. The hotel itself and numbers 68 and 69 St Martin's, which has been incorporated into it are Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

It is possible that there was a hostelry on the site in 947 but the exact date of the current building is not known. A hospital of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem was on the site and was partly destroyed during the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

. The hospital was associated with

Peterborough Abbey Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...

. The main block of the hotel was rebuilt, by

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...

in 1597, but may have incorporated fragments of the earlier building. In 1645

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

stayed at the George and other notables and sportsmen. A pit was built for

cockfight A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

ing. During the 18th century it became a busy

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

, in ''

A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain ''A Tour Thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain'' is an account of his travels by English author Daniel Defoe, first published in three volumes between 1724 and 1727. Other than ''Robinson Crusoe'', ''Tour'' was Defoe's most popular and financial ...

'' (1724), wrote; "From hence we came to St. Martins, and stopp'd at the George, out of Curiosity, because it is reckoned one of the greatest Inns in England, and thence proceeded to Stamford." Among the customers was

Daniel Lambert Daniel Lambert ( 1770 – 1809) was a gaol keeper and animal breeder from Leicester, England, famous for his unusually large size. After serving four years as an apprentice at an engraving and die casting works in Birmingham, he returned ...

, one of the heaviest people in history at the time, who died in Stamford and is buried at St Martin's Church. In August 2018 a gas explosion in the kitchen required attendance by

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue (LFR) is the statutory fire and rescue service serving the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands Region of England. This does not include North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, which ...

. There are some reports that the hotel is haunted. Both the main building and the adjacent 68, St Martin's, are Grade II*

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Architecture

The hotel is a three-storey stone building. The 18th-century front has a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

and

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

with a

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...

of the arms of the

Earl of Exeter Marquess of Exeter is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1525 for Henry Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon. For more ...

. The adjacent building which is also called "The Hermitage" at numbers 68 and 69 St Martin's, which has been incorporated into the hotel, is a two-storey building with an attic. The interior includes the remains of a mediaeval hall, probably built in the 14th century, and parts of the structure represent each of the centuries since.

References

External links

Newspaper review in ''The Daily Telegraph'' from 2008
{{coord, 52.6496373, -0.4781064, format=dms, type:landmark, display=title Coaching inns Grade II* listed buildings in Lincolnshire Grade II* listed hotels Hotels in Lincolnshire Buildings and structures in Stamford, Lincolnshire Tourist attractions in Lincolnshire