OLD INNS OF WIMBORNE. 41 



" For wyne at ye George " 8d. 



Of Mr. Lovell we only know that he was a " gent" and had 

 charge of the Church plate. 



There is some ground for the conjecture that the Com- 

 missioners were accommodated at the " George " during their 

 stay. 



In 1663 there is a record of a Church rate for "repayring of 

 the Parish Church and Organ of Wimborne Minster." " Mr. 

 Lewer for the George 00. 10. 06." 



In 1693 " pd. for officials and other dinners and expenses at 

 the George 01. 09. 00." This refers to the annual dinner, the 

 "Visitation " dinner of later years, when the official or head of 

 the Peculiar Court (appointed by the 12 Church Governors) 

 with the governing body, Churchwardens and Sidesmen, dined 

 together at the expense of the parish. We shall have occasion 

 to refer to this custom later. 



In 1736 there was "pd. Leonard Martin expenses at last 

 Visitation at the ' George Inn ' for himself and two Sidesmen, 

 the small pox being near when the court was held. 5s." 



Wimborne, as a Royal Peculiar, was outside the jurisdiction 

 of the Bishop; but there was an arrangement by which the 

 Bishop (of Bristol) " visited " once a year. The consistory 

 court was held in the west end of the north aisle of the nave, 

 which would be but a few yards only from the garden of the 

 " George." The reference to small pox is interesting, and 

 might imply that Martin and his two colleagues were the 

 only members who cared to risk the infection for the sake of 

 the dinner. 



In 1806 the annual vestry adjourned from the Church to the 

 "George," probably for better accommodation; and later a 

 portion of the garden of the "George" was taken into the 

 Churchyard to improve the access to the west door. 



The "George" is now a comparatively humble inn, and 

 harbours " hermyts " who are lodgers of another type to the 

 one previously mentioned. It is a small but interesting 



