The George

In the novel Dumb Witness, The George is an inn situated in Market Basing. Hercule Poirot and Hastings stay there on several occasions when investigating the death of Emily Arundell.

The George also occurs, in the same context, as an inn in The Incident of the Dog's Ball, the unpublished short story which was later expanded into Dumb Witness. Here the inn is in a different town, Little Hemel. As in the longer story, Poirot and Hastings stay there. They had a bad lunch, Hastings records, "as is the way with country inns."

The food in the Market Basing George is perhaps better but not by much. Hastings describes a lunch "some excellent mutton" but with "large slabs of watery cabbage and some dispirited potatoes. Some rather tasteless stewed fruit and custard followed."

Nonetheless the waiter was talkative enough to provide Poirot with background information on the houses in the area, particularly Little Green House and its inhabitants.

According to Christie's notes in her notebook 63, when planning Dumb Witness she appears to have intended to use another inn "The Lamb" in the fictional town of Market Basing. The Lamb was the name of an actual inn (now closed) on the High Street in Wallingford (which is the inspiration for Market Basing) When she adapted the short story into the novel, Little Hemel was indeed changed to Market Basing, but for some reason unknown, she did not change the name of the inn from George to the Lamb. Next to the Lamb Arcade, there is an actual George Hotel. This hotel dates back to the 16th century and is certainly a place which Christie would have known about. It is not clear if this is a coincidence or if Christie decided to change Poirot and Hastings' inn to the actual George. Her notebooks only mention the Lamb and not The George.

The George Hotel at Wallingford.

High Street, Wallingford. The Lamb is nearest the camera. The white building to the left, 2 blocks down is the George. So which inn did Christie really intend Poirot and Hastings to dine at?