September 23, 1651
On the morning of 23 September, King Charles II travelled to nearby Bridport, still hoping that he could leave from the Dorset coast. When he arrived he discovered to his horror that the town was filled with Parliamentary troops about to sail for Jersey.
After leaving Bridport, King Charles lost his way and soon reached the village of Broadwindsor. That evening he spent the night at the Castle Inn (to become the George Inn) owned by Rhys Jones, a staunch Royalist. The Royal party were given rooms on the top floor. Later that night, the local constable arrived with 40 Roundhead soldiers, enroute to Jersey, all of whom demanded to be billeted at the same inn. Every empty room in the building was subsequently requisitioned and the King's party effectively cut off on the top floor.
However, during the night and fortunately for King Charles one of the women travelling with the soldiers went into labour on the kitchen floor of the inn. The Broadwindsor locals feared that she would be left behind when the soldiers left and the parish be forced to pay for the child’s upbringing. This caused a squabble between the local villagers and the soldiers that lasted until the following morning, diverting the soldiers’ attention away from the other occupants of the Inn. The soldiers left the inn at dawn, allowing the King to escape the next morning and return to Trent House.
The former Castle Inn is now divided into two homes, The Old George and King Charles Cottage. A plaque on King Charles Cottage reads 'King Charles II slept here September 23-24 1651. Erected 4 April 1902'. Next to the cottage is the former George Inn.
We look forward to your stay.
The Old George over the Years
The Castle Inn likely changed its name to The George following the accession of George I to the throne in 1714. The earliest recorded landlord for The George was a John Ewens circa 1750. The Ewenses ran the inn until 1810 when the “inn plus outhouses, stables and edifices and gardens” and 3 acres of land were sold to a Mr John Galpin for £1000. John Galpin, and subsequently his son James, ran The George as Innkeepers until 1848, after which there were a significant number of innkeepers all in short succession of each other.
In 1857 The George suffered major fire damage and was largely destroyed but rebuilt as it stands today. In 1872 Charles Harrison started a lengthy tenure as innkeeper with Theophilus Bartlett, his nephew, as assistant. In 1891 Theophilus took over as innkeeper and was probably the first to rename The George as The George Hotel.
Henry Studley took over as licensee from 1903 until around the first world war, where Arthur Bragg then started a lengthy tenure as innkeeper. Arthur expanded the hotel service significantly and in the 1939 national register is described as a garage proprietor, using the garages at the rear of the rear of The George Hotel to offer motoring services to his guests and the community.
Up until 1970 the public house was owned by the Bass Charrington Brewery whereupon it changed to residential use. Since then The Old George has been used as a private family home and has been providing B&B accommodation in Broadwindsor since 2011.
