the Norman era in the late 11th and 12th centuries, a nucleated village began to appear, prompted by the development of a north–south "High Street" forming part of a longer route from the capital city, London, to the port of Shoreham on the English Channel coast. This replaced an earlier northeast–southwest route linking local farms to the older settlement of West Green, about west of Crawley, because a north–south route could take advantage of an area of drier, harder land formed by an outcrop of sandstone from the Hastings Beds that jutted into the sticky, waterlogged Weald Clay, which predominated around West Green and Crawley. The main road quickly became established, and Crawley was a natural stopping place almost exactly halfway between the coast and London. Its development into an urban area was assured when King John granted a charter for a market in 1202. St John the Baptist's Church was founded a few decades later, a manor house was built in the late 14th or early 15th century, and the local iron industry brought further prosperity. Buildings appeared on both sides of the High Street, which widened significantly as it passed the manor house and church, and the market's position on a long-distance through road enabled it to thrive. 16th–17th century The first mention of The George appears in 1579, when landowner Richard Covert died and passed on an area of land (a tenement) to his son. This necessitated a payment to the Lord of the manor. The tenement bore the name of The George, and was situated in a valuable position: in the centre of Crawley, on the west side of the High Street (and just inside the parish of Ifield, a nearby village; the boundary between Ifield and Crawley parishes ran along the middle of the High Street). The building on the land was almost certainly an inn at that time, and many sources assert that its oldest parts date from about 1450. Its centre section, an open hall-house of a type common in the area, may be even older, possibly late 14th century. An early remodelling came in 1615, when a timber-framed extension was built on the south side, a new jettied cross-wing was added at the front and a stone fireplace was installed. This bears the date 1615 (although this may have been carved later), and has carvings and arches. An inventory dated 1689, carried