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The Royal George Hotel is a Grade II listed building. The description by British Listed Buildings reads as follows;
"SJ7478 KING STREET
792-1/3/70 (West side)
18/01/49 The Royal George Hotel
(Formerly Listed as:
KING STREET
Nos.72 AND 74
Royal George Hotel)
GV II
Coaching inn and hotel. Late C18 with later additions and
alterations, possibly incorporating structural remains of an
earlier building. Brick with Welsh slate roof.
PLAN: deep plan comprising 3 parallel ranges, the rear range
forming the assembly-rooms lit by 4 tall round-arched windows.
Circular wig-room in wing expressed externally as shallow
projecting bow.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys, 4-window range. Main entrance off covered
way which runs through the building to the right. Segmental
archway with stuccoed voussoirs and quoins to covered way,
with paired 4-pane sash windows above with stuccoed keys to
flat-arched gauged brick heads. Late C19 2-storeyed canted bay
window to the left of the entry, and projecting full-height
2-window range beyond.
INTERIOR: assembly room and circular 'wig room' to rear
survive substantially unaltered from late C18. Plaster work in
assembly room comprising low dado and tall wall panels, with
rosette frieze below cornice, and a high frieze over, a
repetitive design of garlands and wreaths. Musical emblems in
the triglyph frieze above. Plaster medallions to ceiling.
Coved recess beneath gallery in end wall, with ornamental
plasterwork forming architrave. Pair of fireplaces in long
wall, with musical motifs in entablature, and fluted shafts
each side. Similar, but less ornate plaster-work in present
dining room which has Palladian window in gable end. Late C18
staircase with moulded tread ends, turned spindles and swept
and moulded rail.
Listing NGR: SJ7518878695" SOURCE: (
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The former Royal George Hotel was completely redeveloped in 2006 and converted into offices that are accessed via a modern entrance, situated under the archway just off King Street. The building was up for sale at the time of this visit (June 2019) (
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History "The Royal George Hotel in King Street was one of the main landmarks and is steeped in history.
Built in the 14th century, the tavern was originally called the White Swan. Its name is thought to come from the time of the War of the Roses when Queen Margaret visited Chester in 1455 and distributed swan emblems to be worn as a token of love to the king'.
But it was renamed The George and Dragon in 1727. Some believe this was to commemorate the accession of George II but more recent studies have shown this to be inaccurate.
The Royal' prefix was added in 1832 when the Duchess of Kent visited with the young Princess Victoria, five years before she became queen.
They stayed there as guests during visits to Chatsworth.
Another somewhat more ominous patron was Highwayman Higgins - alias Edward Hickson - who lived a double life in the 1750s and 60s wining and dining by day and burgling the local gentry by night.
He managed to commit a number of audacious burglaries until his luck ran out in 1764 when he was tracked down for robbing a house in Gloucester. This certainly came as a shock to his unsuspecting wife.
He fled to Bristol and continued his crime spree until 1767 when he was caught in Carmathen by two butchers and locked up in Bristol. He was hanged that year.
The George used to house a desk in an alcove under the stairs in the hall. This was believed to have been used by frequent patron Lord Nelson when arranging a rendezvous with Lady Hamilton, who lived in Cheshire.
Gaskell's Cranford - based on her experiences in Knutsford - also has many scenes set in the Royal George, such as when the ladies went to see the magical tricks of conjurer Signor Brunoni in the pub's assembly room.
The assembly room had been added to the inn about 100 years earlier by county families raising subscriptions. They met there once a month during the winter to dance and play cards.
The grade II listed building closed in 2001 to make way for a £15million development of shops, restaurants, offices and apartments."
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