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Summary

Historic former coaching inn and hotel, surviving in the form of several Grade II listed buildings

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1220555: 20 and 22, The Broadway
• Listed Building (II) 1290876: 18, The Broadway
• Listed Building (II) 1221169: 2, LONDON ROAD
• Conservation Area: Newbury Town Centre

Other Statuses and Cross-References

• 'Blue' Plaque Scheme: Newbury Town Council
  From c. 1730 to 1853, this building and its neighbours were the 'George and Pelican' inn, the most famous of Speenhamland's many inns which served the coaching trade from London to Bath.

Monument Type(s):

• COACHING INN (17th century to Mid 18th - Mid 19th century - 1646 AD to 1850 AD)
• PLAQUE (Early 21st century - 2010 AD? to 2020 AD?)

Full Description

One of the most renowned inns in Newbury was the George and Pelican at the junction of Northbrook Street and the London to Bath Road in Speenhamland. It is also referred to historically by its separate names, suggesting that it was once two separate inns, but even under joint ownership it seems that there was a functional distinction between different buildings. Although several elements of the inn such as its stables have not survived, there are three Grade II listed buildings on the Broadway and London Road which are described as formerly part of the inn: 2 London Road, 18 The Broadway and 20-22 The Broadway <1>.

The heyday of the George and Pelican was during the coaching era, from c1780 to 1840, when Newbury was generally used as an overnight stopping point for travellers from London <2><3><4>. Evening entertainment was also provided in the nearby Pelican theatre. An Irish actor supposedly wrote this punning epigram about the inn:

'The famous inn at Speenhamland
That stands below the hill
May well be called the Pelican
From its enormous bill.'

The Pelican is documented as early as 1646 <2><5>, and is first named on a map in 1768 <6>. According to Walter Money writing at the end of the 19th century, this inn was then the part used for stables, with a residence adjoining, ie the eastern side of the complex. The First Edition Ordnance Survey large scale map of Newbury <7> marks a range behind a courtyard as 'Pelican livery stables'; these buildings have since been demolished. Money also mentions the 'old Pelican garden...in the Backway', famous for its fruit and vegetables, and next to a bowling green. This seems likely to have been north of Pelican Lane <7>.

The George proper was where guests were principally lodged, and was rebuilt in c1730, forming No 20-22 The Broadway, or York House as it is also known. Money <2> says that there was an extensive range of buildings in the rear forming a courtyard; his brother James, an architect, lived in the property, and their father John also seems to have been connected to the George. After James Money's death, York House was auctioned in 1918 <13>; various alterations had been made to the building including removing the long room in which passengers dined and most meetings were held. Information about the various proprietors of the George and Pelican has also been collected <8><9>.

The Pelican (and presumably the George) closed down around the middle of the 19th century; it is still marked on Davis' 1849 map <10> but was in decline at this time due to the advent of the railways. A contemporary account of a visit to the inn in c1850 notes the changes of "that once famous hostelrie....the Pelican of the wilderness, as it may literally be called, looked desolate and forlorn, and a portion of it is converted into a chymist's shop" <2>.

Various famous names in history are said to have visited the George and Pelican, including Nelson, Samuel Coleridge and King George and Queen Charlotte. Charles Dickens stayed there in 1835, and it has been suggested that he was thinking of it when he wrote an essay 'An Old Stage-Coaching House' in a book called 'The UnCommercial Traveller' <14>. The George and Pelican was the site of various historically important events, including a meeting in 1795 which led to the introduction of the Speenhamland System of poor relief <11>, and a gathering of labourers during the Swing Riots of 1830 <12>.

The GIS polygon for the George and Pelican includes the three listed buildings and part of its historic courtyard area, but is approximate.

Newbury Town Council erected a 'blue' plaque on the building in 2016 to highlight the significance of the location. <17>

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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