The George Inn, Portland
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The George Inn is a Grade II-listed 18th-century public house on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. It is situated within the village of Easton, at the west end of the hamlet of Reforne. The pub is located close to St George's Church and St George's Centre.
The building was originally two separate houses, various sources report these to have been built between 1610 and 1700 although a date concurrent with the date stone is also possible.[1] In the 18th century the house was the residence of William Butts, the parish clerk of the nearby St George's Church.[2] Above the inn's main door is a stone dated 1765 with the letters W G B, and it is believed that this date was inscribed on the building by Butts.[3] In the late 18th or early 19th century the building underwent alterations to enlarge and heighten the first floor, the roof was raised and the first floor stone mullioned windows changed to larger sash windows.
The George Inn is one of the oldest pubs on Portland and is supposed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited buildings on the island.[4] The inn was the meeting-place of the Court Leet of the Royal Manor of Portland, and the building still holds an original reeve staff used to record rent payments. The building has also been reputed to have been a smugglers' haunt.[5]
