The George and Dragon

There are medieval records of a building called The George in Brentwood, it is impossible to tell if this medieval building was the same as the inn that is better recorded in modern time. But since the George and Dragon was a very old building that itself dated back to at least the 1500s, it is certainly possible.

The earliest recods of The George are from 1407. St George had become the patron saint of England in 1350, so it may be that the inn first started around that time. There is also a story that Wat Tyler himself lodged here in 1381 during the Peasant's Revolt and rallied peasants together in its courtyard, there is no evidence for this unfortunately except for Victorian folklore.

The building was a large timber framed building, with a partially jettied front and two wings extending to a courtyard behind. A passage way led through the building for carts to enter the courtyard.

From surviving images, the building could well have been built as a Wealden hall house - with a central hall, two short, jettied cross wings, and a passage way at one end of the hall. Wealden hall houses were commonly built in the 14th and 15th centuries, which aligns with the earliest record of The George in Brentwood in 1407.

It was never as important as inns such as The White Hart, but it was still a large and impressive building. It was a coaching inn and regularly saw trade from visitors to Brentwood. Before the 1800s it may have been known just as The George, with the 'and Dragon' first recorded in the 1820s. The arrival of the railway caused the decline of this inn, as it did not keep up with other inns and hotels that modernised or were rebuilt.

Like many old inns, it was not just a place for travelers and locals to drink and rest, but also a place of sport - and there seems to have been an area for boxing there during the early 19th century. Barney Aaron, an early English boxer, trained at the George and Dragon.

It closed in about 1906 and was converted into shops. The building was demolished in about 1970.