The area takes its name from the nearby Church of St George the Martyr, which according to the "Annals of Bermondsey Abbey" was founded by Thomas Ardern and Thomas his son in 1122. The small de Ardern family property occupied the corner of the junction of the high street and "old" Kent street (now Tabard Street); presumably this had been acquired from Canterbury after 1086. It may have been a hamlet that had developed at what is the junction of the Roman roads now known as Stane Street and Watling Street. This too was given to Bermondsey Priory in 1122 by the Arderns along with the church of St George the Martyr which is in that precinct. The Rectors were appointed by the Priory/Abbey until the Reformation changes and its dissolution.