Editing Wanstead (section)

===The George public house===
[[File:"Cherry Pey" plaque in Wanstead.jpg|thumb|The plaque on the side of The George pub, commemorating a cherry pie]]
Although current building is from 1903, The George has been a pub on the site since at least 1716.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The history of Wanstead's high street|url=https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/12902540.the-history-of-wansteads-high-street/|access-date=2021-08-28|website=East London and West Essex Guardian Series|date=25 April 2015 |language=en}}</ref> Set in to the side of the pub is a plaque dating from 1752, which was formerly part of an older pub building. The plaque is inscribed with the eccentrically spelled verse:

: ''In Memory of''
: ''Ye Cherry Pey''
: ''As cost 1/2 a Guiney''
: ''Ye 17 of July''
: ''That day we had good cheer''
: ''I hope to so do maney a Year''
: ''R C 1752 D Jerry''<ref>[http://www.shadyoldlady.com/location.php?loc=630 Plaque details] accessed 24 April 2007.</ref>

There are various local legends explaining this curious plaque, including a tale of the theft of a [[Cherry pie (dessert)|cherry pie]] by local workmen who were caught and fined half a [[Guinea (British coin)|guinea]] (52.5p). However the most likely explanation is that it was placed there by the landlord of 1752, David Jersey (corrupted by centuries of repainting and re-cutting the inscription to D Jerry on the plaque), commemorating a feast which included a huge cherry pie. Monstrous pies were a feature of 18th-century Essex rural festivals; the [[Galmpton, Torbay|Galmpton]] Gooseberry Pie Fair in Devon is still in existence, and other inns around the edge of Epping Forest were famed for pies (rabbit pie at The Reindeer, [[Loughton]], now Warren House, and [[pigeon pie]] at The King's Head, [[Chigwell]]). Wanstead was well known for its cherry orchards as late as the 1830s, when they were mentioned by poet [[Thomas Hood]], who lived in Wanstead 1832–5.