Prior to September 2001 there was a large hotel in Nailsworth originally called The George Inn. The George was next to the mini roundabout on the A46 and first opened in 1761.
It was demolished in 2001.
Looking back, it’s crazy that such an old building was ever allowed to be pulled down. That said, a lot of the listed buildings in the centre of Stroud were at one point scheduled for demolition so it’s no surprise. See The Slad Flyover Proposal for some Stroud listed building madness.
This is some history of The George I recorded over the years as due to its age and use it was a prominent and significant building.
It was known as The George Hotel or just The George to most locals in recent times. Some of the internal walls were covered in dark wood paneling and if I remember correctly the hotel did a great sausage and chips! I believe there was an inscription on a stone on the very far right of the building saying it was a Masonic Hall. The hall was used as a function room.
Below is a photo I was sent years ago of ironically somebody called George pulling a pint of Mild in the George bar. I don’t know what date it was taken but I think it might have pre-dated the main above photo taken in 1986.
The George became a well used coaching inn (we’re talking horse and carriage here) serving coaches from Bristol, Bath, Birmingham and Cheltenham.
It had a stable block on the small green where the memorial clock tower now stands.
During the 1980s (ish) it was taken over I believe by a large property company based in Manchester.
Shortly afterwards, they wanted to knock the building down, which in April 1989 instigated a rooftop protest. The protest made it to the local television news.
We didn’t have social media back then, so TV news was big.
The image below was taken around Christmas (note the reindeer on the roof) in 1999 and shows the old George with the windows boarded up and part of the roof missing. The building on the far right is part of the new building before the walls were rendered.
After it was pulled down a new building was built in its place and in the same style as the original. It has shop units on the ground floor with flats above.
References to nailsworth.com in the photos is my old website where the photos were originally shown.
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