Further work planned for rugby league birthplace

Further renovation work will take place at a Huddersfield hotel, seen as the birthplace of rugby league in 1895.

The Grade II* listed George Hotel has been vacant since 2013 and was bought by Kirklees Council in 2020, with the aim of refurbishing the building as part of a plan to transform the town centre.

In May last year, updated proposals were submitted to Kirklees Council, including an increase in the number of rooms from 91 to 108.

Plans have now been submitted for a detailed ground investigation to show the building is safe and stable, before the partial demolition and extension of the hotel takes place.

The George Hotel, built in 1851, was where representatives from 21 northern rugby clubs held a meeting on 29 August 1895.

It was there they voted to leave the Rugby Football Union to set up the Northern Union - renamed the Rugby Football League in 1922.

The hotel, which looks out onto the nearby Huddersfield Station, was once earmarked to become a national rugby league museum.

The latest application is part of an ongoing project to revamp the hotel into a 108-bedroom venue featuring a new bar, restaurant and gym run by international hotelier Radisson, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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