Originally the George Hotel was the dower house to Wallingford Castle and was used at that time for the families of deceased guardians of the Castle. During the Civil War the Castle was besieged by the Parliamentarians. After a siege lasting four months the garrison commander agreed to surrender the Castle to Cromwell’s troops and the Castle was destroyed; the only remains today being some ruined walls.
The George Hotel was one of the few buildings to survive the Great Fire of Wallingford in 1675, and is one of the few examples of Mediaeval architecture in the town. The hotel is famous for it’s Tear Drop Room, so-called because of the tear-drop pattern that has been drawn on one wall of the room. The tear-drops are pear-shaped, crudely drawn and have been painted on the plaster of the wall. The Tear Drop Room is haunted. The ghost is the daughter of Samuel Pearse, a 17th century landlord, who killed the girl’s lover, a Sergeant John Hobson, at the inn in March, 1626. It is said that the shock was too great for the girl, who became insane and was locked up in the room at the inn now known as Tear Drop Room. She never stopped crying. It is said that she mixed soot from the chimney with |
