George and Dragon Public House is a Grade II listed building in the East Hertfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 November 1966. A C16 Public house. 7 related planning applications.
George and Dragon Public House
- WRENN ID
- tilted-outpost-amber
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- East Hertfordshire
- Constituency
- North East Hertfordshire MP: Chris Hinchliff (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 24 November 1966
- Type
- Public house
- Address
- George and Dragon Public House, High Street, Watton-At-Stone, SG14 3TA
- OS grid reference
- TL 301 193
- Coordinates
- 51.85731, -0.11174
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The George and Dragon Public House is a public house dating from the mid to late 16th century, with later extensions and alterations. Originally, it featured an open hall with an upper cross wing and was further extended, floored, and heated in the mid 17th century. The building underwent alterations in the 19th century. It has a timber frame with roughcast and rendered surfaces, some of which are exposed, and is topped with tiled roofs.
The structure is one storey with an attic, and a taller two-storey, two-bay block was added at the upper end. A small lower cross wing was added later. The original entrance, which was a screens passage to the left, has been blocked due to a stack being inserted on the front pitch. The current entrance is located at the upper end of the hall, accessed by steps and iron railings leading up to a six-panelled door with moulded jambs and a fanlight. To the left of this entrance is a 19th-century canted bay window featuring 12:16:12 pane sashes with a flat head, and above it is a three-light gabled dormer.
The original cross wing to the right is jettied and has a ground floor 19th-century canted bay window similar to that of the hall, with a three-light casement on the first floor and exposed plates. Two bays were added to the right in line with the first floor of the cross wing. There are steps leading up to a raised entrance with a half-glazed door and a ground floor 16-pane flush frame sash. The first floor has two small-pane casements. A cross axial ridge stack is located where this range meets the original cross wing.
The right gable end features some exposed framing on the ground floor and exposed plates. To the left front is a lower and narrower later cross wing with small-pane casements, a jettied first floor supported by a curved bracket, and exposed plates. The left return has exposed framing that has been rebuilt with brick infill on the ground floor, with thin scantling above and scattered small-pane casements. The rear gable end of the later cross wing has a jowled post and a two-light dormer on the inner return. The original cross wing has a hipped roof at the rear, linking to the first addition, which includes a 19th-century slate-roofed extension.
Inside, the building features exposed framing with jowled posts, cambered tie beams, close studding, and passing tension braces.
Local climate
George and Dragon Public House sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 86% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 78% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 7 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings