This is Somerset --The castle in the name of the town of which The George is the principal hostelry is no more than a distant memory. Toddle round the back of the pub to the steep green slope of Lodge Hill and you can view the mound where the great fort once stood. But that's your lot.
Best to return at once to the comfort of the pub, which features in its front bar a magnificent inglenook fireplace. The elm lintel, I have been told, was salvaged from the wreckage of the castle when it was destroyed by King Stephen, grandson of William the Conqueror, in the 1150s.
This sort of thing lends plenty of charm to this likeable old place, the rest of which is a handsome stone building of comparatively recent origin (well, 16th century), made from golden Cary stone and topped with an unusually extensive thatch.
The pub sign declares The George a Greene King inn, but it is no such thing. It is in fact owned and managed by Daniel Patrick and his family, who have succeeded the East Anglian brewery as landlords but pragmatically retained the splendid sign.
This is a substantial enterprise. Besides its vital function as a community freehouse, The George has 17 bedrooms, including a honeymoon suite. Downstairs, you enter through a grand panelled lobby which gives on to a large lounge rather plushly furnished with chesterfield sofas and many tables, all looking very inviting.
But on your first visit, exit left from the lobby into the front bar, the one with the inglenook. It's a sumptuous room, full of colour and texture, and in my limited experience full of local chatter, too. This is where Castle Cary likes to gather.
Regular beers are Wadworths 6X and Timothy Taylor Landlord, and you can expect a guest ale besides. You can eat in the bar or lounge and there are further dining rooms. Look out for game at this time of year, and there is a good bar menu for cosy lunches.
The George stands opposite Castle Cary's unique Flemish-Italianate-style Market House of 1855, which includes a museum of local life, an occasional dance school, a tourist office, part-time police station and even a cell, (no longer in commission, but very much a proud exhibit).
All these attractions are highly recommended. And that includes The George. Reported by This is 13 hours ago.