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In the year 1540 The George Hotel was granted its first licence and is still thriving over 450 years later having survived the Civil War, the ravages of The Plague, the threat of Napoleon and two World Wars.

The George is a fine example of a traditional English Inn standing in the centre of the very broad and picturesque high street of Odiham. In common with numerous other houses here it was re-fronted in the Georgian period. The more modern front conceals the original jettying which can still be seen in the ceiling timbers in the Oak Room, now used for private parties and meetings. In this room the wattle and daub walls are exposed to view.

One of the Inn’s finest rooms is the oak panelled Cromwells Restaurant with its splendid flagstone floor believed to be from Bradford Cathedral. The flags were laid as recently as 1972 the year that England adopted decimal currency. To commemorate the event examples of the old coinage were set in the dining room floor.

The magnificent intricately carved fire surround is said to have been taken from Basing House after the siege by Cromwell’s army in 1645. The restaurant was at one time the Assize Court for the area, with a Whipping Post in a room above.

Elizabethan wall paintings reputedly depicting Chaucer’s poem “The Parliament of Fowls” can be seen in one of the four poster bedrooms. These paintings were hidden behind layers of plaster and have only been completely exposed and protected since 1986 when alterations were made to the bedrooms.

In 1783 a meeting of Gentlemen assembled in the Oak panelled room of The George Inn to establish a society to encourage agriculture and industry in the neighbourhood. The George was the birthplace of The Odiham Agricultural Society which developed into the Royal Veterinary College of today.

Take the opportunity to visit King John’s Castle nearby where he stopped on route to signing the Magna Carta. In Odiham a unique ‘Pest House’ which housed sufferers from The Plague still survives together with the stocks and whipping post adjacent to the churchyard.

Read more about the intriguing history of the area at