THE GEORGE Inn in Petersfield Square is not only one of the town’s oldest continuously-running pubs but quite possibly one of its oldest continuously-running businesses too.

Found on the west side of The Square, The George was originally a much larger premises.

These stretched from the current building up to the corner with Sheep Street, taking in the area now occupied by the library.

The current attractive Victorian façade hides a much older timber-framed building.

The first landlord we are able to name for The George is Robert Edwards in 1591.

In 1592 it was recorded that a stranger stopping at The George died and was subsequently buried in the churchyard of St Peter’s Church.

The much larger original premises was one of five important coaching inns found in the town at the beginning of the 17th century.

In 1603, Gregory Randolland and John Colebrook bought the inn from a Mrs Shelley for £208.

Mr Colebrook went on to become mayor in 1604. Mr Colebrook was not the only landlord of The George to be mayor; John Heather Junior was landlord in 1694 and was mayor twice, in 1697 and 1714.

Although called simply ’The George’, its sign shows St George and the Dragon.

In the mid-17th century The George was the only inn in the market square and probably very busy.

The coach-and-horse business may have caused the surface outside the inn to deteriorate, as in 1670 £1 6s was paid towards the fixing of a piece of ground in front of The George.

Towards the end of the 17th century the coaching trade moved away from The Square and on to the High Street.

This was where the Portsmouth to London road entered the town, and a number of coaching inns, The Dolphin Hotel, The Green Dragon, and The White Hart, among others, catered for the growing number of coaches.

As a result of trade shifting away from the Square, the value of The George dropped.

And in 1689 John Gilbert was paying only sixpence in rent.

By 1752 The George was owned by the towns leading family, the Joliffe’s of St Peter’s Road.

In 1789 William Joliffe signed a 900-year lease with Edward Perryer, a brewer, letting the property for £1 1s yearly, with a further £1 1s upon the death of each tenant in possession, and another £1 1s when the property changed hands.

Between 1811 and 1815 The George was divided up into three separate properties.

Two of them were private dwellings, and the ’tap bar’ - so called because it served beer straight from a barrel that had been ’tapped’ - of the coaching inn became the pub that is there today.

Although it has had many different owners, landlords and tenants, The George has been a drinking establishment in the town for over 400 years.

This without doubt makes it one of Petersfield’s oldest businesses.