The Great George PH

The Great George Public House, located at Nos. 47-49 Cross Street and No. 1 Monk Street, dates from the late 18th century and is a substantial L-shaped block of three storeys, with a lower second storey. The building is rendered and painted, with smooth stucco on Nos. 47 and 49 and roughcast on No. 48. It has natural slate roofs and red brick stacks. The front elevation has seven windows facing Cross Street and three facing Monk Street. Nos. 47 and 48 are two windows wide, while Nos. 49 and 1 have three windows. A prominent Doric giant order runs down the front of the building, partially obscured by the shopfronts. The Cross Street elevation features clasping corner pilasters and another set between Nos. 48 and 49, creating four windows on the right and three on the left. A narrow band separates the floors of No. 47, and also separates it from No. 48. The Monk Street elevation displays the full first floor band and pilasters that extend down to the plinth. The arrangement on Monk Street includes a central pilaster flanked by two bays on either side, with the final pilaster being a quoin that does not clasp the corner.

The ground floor shopfront of No. 47, likely dating to around 1920, features a display window with slim mullions and curved glass, along with a six-panel door to the left with panelled reveals. A photograph from 1909 depicts a different frontage with the house door on the right. The first floor windows are 8 over 8 pane sashes, while the second floor windows are 4 over 8. No. 48 has a plain late 20th-century shopfront with a single-pane display window and door. No. 49 has a late 19th-century public house frontage with arched window and door openings: two-light window, door, two-light window, door, and a single light. This frontage extends around the corner into Monk Street with another two-light window. The first floor windows are similar to those on Cross Street, but the central first-floor window is a narrow 6 over 6 pane sash. A 1909 photograph suggests it originally had a pedimented architrave and may have been part of a balcony similar to those used for election addresses before the Reform Act, directly opposite the town's other premier hotel. This architrave has since been removed. The Monk Street elevation has single-light windows with transoms on the ground floor, and a prominent doorway to No. 1, with a panelled door, transom light, panelled architrave, and flat head supported by carved brackets. The first floor has six over 6 pane sashes, and the second floor has 3 over 6 pane sashes. Deep eaves are supported by brackets on both elevations. The roof is hipped at both ends to Cross Street but features a gable end on Monk Street. There are six large brick stacks, two on each ridge and one at either end of the block. The rear elevation includes dormers and roof-lights, indicating that part of the attic is usable living space. The interior was not inspected during a recent survey, except for the ground floor, which has been amalgamated into a single bar/restaurant area, with no visible historic features.