There is something evocative about the idea of a medieval inn. Perhaps it stems from Chaucer’s Canterbury tales conjuring up images of The Tabard inn in Southwark, London – with ‘mine host’, tasty pies and pilgrims telling stories whilst sat beside a warm fire, sipping wine. But how did inns come about? This post looks at aspects of inns, in particular the George, that date from the 13th and 14th centuries to give an idea.
England’s Oldest Inn & Oldest Hotel?
About half-way between Bath and Frome is an inn that has had continuous history as an inn since the 14th C. Just in Somerset, 5 miles from Bath and near the Wiltshire border, it lies in the centre of the village of Norton St Philip, namely the George Inn. Today it belongs to Wadworth’s Brewery (Devizes) and is definitely still evocative of ‘Merry England’. Another hospitality venue that has roots linked to an ecclesiastical foundation is the Old Bell at Malmesbury, which was the abbey’s guest house. It claims to be England’s oldest hotel,[i] dating from circa 1220.[ii]
Figure 2: The Old Bell Hotel, Malmesbury
The Medieval Inn
Inns were different from alehouses. An alehouse was where ale was drunk and catered for the ordinary local. The medieval inn emerged with the development of monastic houses, pilgrimage destinations and trade. They accommodated guests, their retainers, their horses and their goods. They served food and wine.
By the 13th C roads and bridges were in place to provide an infrastructure between ports, towns and cities.[iii] The inn became a feature of this infrastructure development. Norton St. Philip is near the city of Bath and around 18 miles from the medieval port of Bristol. To the south, around 56 miles away, was the medieval port of Southampton. Southampton received wine imported from places such as Gascony. The links with Gascony in the 14th C were particularly strong leading to a significant wine trade with England. From Southampton the wine could be transferred around the country either by road or sea/river transport. There is a restored late-13th C wine merchant’s house[iv] which is well worth a visit (English Heritage owned site).
Figure 3: Notice the barrel as a sign for wine. The bed chamber juts out to give extra space and a cover for business below.
Figure 4: The boards can be lowered to set up stall for sales
The layout and rooms of medieval inns illustrates their function. They would consist of a hall for communal meeting and meals, chambers for sleeping, stabling for horses and storage for goods. There would be the inn keeper’s accommodation as well as the kitchen, storage and other such service areas.[v]
Fireplaces and Lighting
Figure 5: The fire hood and hearth at the Old Bell, Malmesbury.
Figure 6: The write up on the smoke hood at the Old Bell.
In the hall of the inn would be a welcoming fire for the travellers. At the Old Bell Hotel at Malmesbury is one of the earliest examples of a domestic fireplace that has survived. It dates from circa 1220. It is in effect a smoke canopy or hood that vented the smoke from the fire away from the room. This one is constructed of stone ashlar. As mentioned in the write up on the smoke canopy, there are the remains above the pyramidal hood of a first-floor hearth. The first floor has remains of moulded jams with capitals of a fire-surround. The first floor was a hall. There are the remains, to the right of the fire breast, of a winder stair.[vi]
Figure 7: The Norton Room at the George. 16th C fire place.
At the George Inn in Norton St Philip the fireplace dates from the 16th C.[vii] However, the windows show an earlier design. These bay windows with cusp designs on the individual lights originate from the 15th C.[viii] The design and glass would have been a rare luxury at a time when only the most elite castles and manors or the church had the wealth and artisans to create such windows.
Figure 8: Front view of the George bay windows from the 15th C (mainly restored).
MONASTIC HOUSES & WOOL FAIRS
The creation of the George Inn was initiated by the Carthusian monastery at nearby Hinton Charterhouse. The priory had been founded in 1232 and as part of their endowments the monks were granted the manor of Norton St Philip. Whilst the order is an eremitical (reclusive) one, they managed to obtain the grant to hold fairs for wool trading at Norton St Philip. The royal grants for fairs and markets are recorded in the Charter Rolls. It is recorded that on 5 April 1255, Henry III granted an annual fair which would be held on the vigil, the feast and the day after the feast of St Philip & St James. This would be the 30 April, 1st & 2nd May).[ix]The church at Norton St Philip is dedicated to St Philip & St James. The church dates from the 14th C.[x]
The fair would have been primarily for wool and woollen cloth. Other wares would have also been brought and sold. Wool was the staple resource of England during the medieval period, with the raw material (particularly in the 13th C & 14th C) being traded for export. It is difficult to imagine now but the along the roads in England would be trains for pack horses bearing their panniers of wool.
The Carthusians kept flocks of sheep on their lands both at Hinton Charterhouse and Norton St Philip as well as their grange at Geneworth (Green Ore) on the Mendips. Norton St Philip was a key centre as a collecting point for the surrounding area and the Mendips. The George Inn was used to store the wool prior for sales on fair days. As the medieval period progressed more woollen cloth was produced and traded/exported (rather than raw wool).[xi]
The George as seen today would not be quite how it looked to those wool traders of the 14th C. The oldest parts (from circa 1370) would be the back wall of the main range facing onto the inner courtyard and the adjoining wall (the wall that is on the right of the inn when looking at the front – there is a footpath running adjacent to it outside. It was built primarily if stone and there were 3 floors.[xii] To find out more detail of the architectural history of the George Inn, Wadworth’s The George Inn booklet is well worth reading over a glass of something whilst sitting in the bar at the inn.
Figure 9: Oldest part of the George Inn.
Figure 10: Courtyard Gallery.
Figure 11: Courtyard Gallery Canopy.
In the Spring of 1431 oak trees were felled to create the timber framing used in the rebuilding of the inn to give a street frontage, as in its present form. The 2 bay windows on the ground floor were added (see Figure 8). Galleries were also added to the 1st and 2nd floor levels and reached via the spiral stair in a newly constructed stone tower.[xiii]
Figure 12: The Old Bell next to the Benedictine Abbey.
The Old Bell Hotel at Malmesbury was originally the abbey guesthouse. Situated adjacent to the Benedictine abbey it could accommodate visitors. Considering it was one of the leading places of learning in Europe, containing a significant library, it probably received many visitors.
St George as a Patron Saint
Figure 13: The George Inn Sign.
It is worth noting that St George, whilst known prior in England, became popular during the 14th C. Edward III adopted St George as the patron saint for his newly created Order of the Garter in the 1340s. The Synod of Oxford had previously set the saint’s feast as 23 April in 1222. In 1415 the feast day of St George was declared a festum duplex by the church, which meant that only the most vital work could be done on that day.[xiv] The conflict with France that started during the 14th C potentially meant a warrior saint appealed to a sense of national identity.
Summary
The George Inn and the Old Bell Hotel give a unique glimpse into the medieval world of hospitality in the 13th and 14th centuries. The business of trading, of fairs and markets, of monastic hospitality, accommodation and provisioning connected people and places. They demonstrate the longevity of the English Inn as an enduring icon of welcome respite.
NOTES ON THE FOUNDATION OF HINTON PRIORY & THE CARTHUSIANS
The remarkable Ela, countess of Salisbury & the founding of Hinton Charterhouse
Hinton Charterhouse was founded in 1232 by Ela, suo jure countess of Salisbury (circa 1190 to 1261). Ela was the daughter of William, earl of Salisbury. Unusually when her father died in 1196, he had declared Ela as his heir (hence the suo jure in her title – ‘in her own right’). Richard I, then king, quickly married her off to his illegitimate brother (illegitimate son of Henry II), William Longespee (d. 1226). Longespee became by right of his wife, the 3rd earl of Salisbury. The couple laid the 4th & 5th foundation stones in 1220 for the new cathedral of Salisbury (she the 4th & he the 5th).[xv]
Upon the death of her husband in 1226 she had to surrender Salisbury Castle to the king (now Henry III). She acted as sheriff of Wiltshire for the years 1227-8 & 1231-1237. Her grandfather, father and husband had held the office at times previously. She had no hereditary right to the shrievalty.[xvi] She must have been a remarkable women.
Ela and her husband were benefactors to the church. William had founded a charterhouse of Carthusian monks at Hatherop, Gloucestershire in 1222. Due to the inadequate endowments and the unsuitability of the site they appealed to the widow Ela for help. She brought them to her park at Hinton in Somerset and augmented the endowments.[xvii]
In 1230 she founded a house of Augustinian canonesses at Lacock in Wiltshire, which she entered in 1237. In 1239 the nunnery was upgraded from a priory to an abbey and she became its first abbess. She died on 24 August 1261 and was buried in the abbey.[xviii]
Carthusians
The Carthusians are an eremitical Order founded by Saint Bruno in 1084. They established a small community in the Chartreuse Mountains in the French Alps, situated between Grenoble and Chamberey. The monastic order became known as the Carthusians and their priories became known as charterhouses.[xix]
Henry II had brought the Carthusians to England as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170. They settled at Witham in Somerset in 1178. William Longespee established the 2nd charterhouse at Hatherop.[xx]
A Carthusian monk lived in a solitary ‘cell’ with their own walled garden and private cloister for meditation. They followed the eight offices of the day as other monks, mainly in isolation with only the night offices and the afternoon office of Vespers together in their church. They met on Sundays and feast days, when they would celebrate all offices, dine together and discuss charterhouse business.[xxi]
NOTES
[i] ‘Our Story’, The Old Bell Hotel Malmesbury, https://oldbellhotel.co.uk/our-story/ [accessed 11 January 2021].
[ii] ‘The Old Bell Hotel and Attached front area walls and railings, Historic England List Entry 1174635, (1949 (amended 1996)), https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1269521 [accessed 10 January 2021].
[iii] John Hare (2013), ‘Inns, innkeepers and the society of later medieval England, 1350-1600’, Journal of Medieval History, 39:4, 477-497, DOI: 10, 1080/03044181.2013.833132 [accessed 29 October 2017], p. 478.
[iv] ‘Medieval Merchant’ House, English Heritage, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/medieval-merchants-house/[accessed 11 January 2021].
[v] Hare, p. 480.
[vi] ‘The Old Bell Hotel and Attached front area walls and railings, Historic England List Entry 1174635.
[vii] Ferguson Mann Architects, The George Inn Norton St Philip Somerset. (Devizes: Wadworth & Co, 1999), p.17.
[viii] Ferguson Mann Architects, p.17.
[ix] Colin J. Brett, ‘The Fairs and Markets of Norton St Philip’, Extracts from SANHS Proceedings, Vol. 144, 2002.
[x] ‘Church of St Philip and St James’, Historic England List Entry 1345373, (1968), https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1345373 [accessed 12 January 2021].
[xi] Brett, ‘The Fairs and Markets of Norton St Philip’.
[xii] Ferguson Mann Architects, p.11.
[xiii] Ferguson Mann Architects, p.12.
[xiv] Muriel C. McClendon, ‘A Moveable Feast: Saint George’s Day Celebrations and Religious Change in Early Modern England’, Journal of British Studies, Jan., 1999, Vol. 38 No. 1, pp. 1-27, <https://www.jstor.org/stable/175838>, p.7.
[xv] Jennifer C. Ward, ‘Ela, suo jure countess of Salisbury (b. in or after 1190, d. 1261)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2009, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/47205 [accessed 5 January 2021].
[xvi] Jennifer C. Ward, ‘Ela, suo jure countess of Salisbury (b. in or after 1190, d. 1261)’.
[xvii] Jennifer C. Ward, ‘Ela, suo jure countess of Salisbury (b. in or after 1190, d. 1261)’.
[xviii] Jennifer C. Ward, ‘Ela, suo jure countess of Salisbury (b. in or after 1190, d. 1261)’.
[xix] ‘The Carthusian Order’, English Heritage: History And Stories, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/mount-grace-priory/history-and-stories/carthusians/ [accessed 3 January 2021].
[xx] ‘The Carthusian Order’, English Heritage: History And Stories.
[xxi] ‘The Daily Life of A Carthusian, English Heritage: History And Stories, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/mount-grace-priory/history-and-stories/carthusian-life/ [accessed 3 January 2021].
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brett, Colin J., ‘The Fairs and Markets of Norton St Philip’, Extracts from SANHS Proceedings, Vol. 144, 2002
‘Church of St Philip and St James’, Historic England List Entry 1345373, (1968), https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1345373 [accessed 12 January 2021]
Ferguson Mann Architects, The George Inn Norton St Philip Somerset. (Devizes: Wadworth & Co, 1999)
Hare, John, (2013), ‘Inns, innkeepers and the society of later medieval England, 1350-1600’, Journal of Medieval History, 39:4, 477-497, DOI: 10, 1080/03044181.2013.833132 [accessed 29 October 2017], p. 478.
‘Medieval Merchant’ House, English Heritage, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/medieval-merchants-house/ [accessed 11 January 2021]
McClendon, Muriel, C., ‘A Moveable Feast: Saint George’s Day Celebrations and Religious Change in Early Modern England, Journal of British Studies, Jan. 1999, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 1-27, https://www.jstor.org/stable/175838 [accessed 11 January 2021]
‘Our Story’, The Old Bell Hotel Malmesbury, https://oldbellhotel.co.uk/our-story/ [accessed 11 January 2021]
‘The Daily Life of A Carthusian, English Heritage: History And Stories, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/mount-grace-priory/history-and-stories/carthusian-life/ [accessed 3 January 2021]
‘The Carthusian Order’, English Heritage: History And Stories, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/mount-grace-priory/history-and-stories/carthusians/ [accessed 3 January 2021]
‘The Daily Life of A Carthusian, English Heritage: History And Stories, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/mount-grace-priory/history-and-stories/carthusian-life/ [accessed 3 January 2021]
‘The Old Bell Hotel and Attached front area walls and railings, Historic England List Entry 1174635, (1949 (amended 1996)), https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1269521 [accessed 10 January 2021]
Ward, Jennifer C., ‘Ela, suo jure countess of Salisbury (b. in or after 1190, d. 1261)’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2009, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/47205 [accessed 5 January 2021]