The George and Dragon Beerhouse Riseley

The George sale notice [WG2458]

The George and Dragon Beerhouse: 140 High Street, Riseley

The countywide licensing register of 1876 tells us that the George and Dragon was first licensed as an unnamed beerhouse in 1869. It was owned by Saint Neots [Huntingdonshire] brewer William Paine. He bought the premises the previous year when it was offered for sale as The George, as the image above shows [WG2458]. In those days Bowers Lane was called Brick Yard Lane.

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. The valuer visiting the George and Dragon [DV1/C217/79] noted that it was the north-east half of 140 High Street. The building was owned by Paine and Company of Saint Neots [Huntingdonshire] and the tenant, A Lovell, paid rent of £8 per annum. Accommodation comprised a tap room, private bar, kitchen, sunken cellar and three bedrooms. Trade was, on average, eight gallons of beer per week, tobacco sales being "negligible". Outside were a brick and tiled two stalled stable, open bay and store shed and a brick and tiled barn, lean-to fowl shed and store barn. The valuer's odd comment was: "Rotten egg".

The other half of the building was in occupation of W Carrington who paid £10 per annum for two living rooms, scullery and two bedrooms. Two brick and tiled barns stood outside. There is no further record of the George and Dragon held at Bedfordshire and Luton Archive and Record Service. By the time of the next licensing register to include Riseley, the mid to late 1950s the establishment was no longer licensed.

Sources:

• WG2458: sale notice regarding the George: 1875;
• PSS3/1: Register of Alehouse Licences - Sharnbrook Petty Sessional Division: c.1901;
• PSS3/2: Register of Alehouse Licences - Sharnbrook Petty Sessional Division: c.1903;
• PSS3/3: Register of Alehouse Licences - Sharnbrook Petty Sessional Division: 1904-1930 

Licencees: note that this is not a complete list and that dates in italics are not necessarily beginning or end dates, merely the first/last date which can be confirmed from sources such as directories and deeds:

1876-1891: Samuel Wise;
1903: John Wise;
1906-1910: John Jordan Wise;
1914-1927: Henry Lovell;
1927-1935: Valentina Louisa Lovell;
1935-1940: Ernest Walter Wildman