Mill Street is one of the most
picturesque groups of old-time dwellings, a picture that lingers in
our minds long after we have left the town and fortress of the grim
old Earls of Warwick.
Oxford is a unique city. There is no place like it in the world.
Scholars of Cambridge, of course, will tell me that I am wrong, and
that the town on the Cam is a far superior place, and then point
triumphantly to "the backs." Yes, they are very beautiful, but as a
loyal son of Oxford I may be allowed to prefer that stately city with
its towers and spires, its wealth of college buildings, its exquisite
architecture unrivalled in the world. Nor is the new unworthy of the
old. The buildings at Magdalen, at Brazenose, and even the New Schools
harmonize not unseemly with the ancient structures. Happily Keble is
far removed from the heart of the city, so that that somewhat
unsatisfactory, unsuccessful pile of brickwork interferes not with its
joy. In the streets and lanes of modern Oxford we can search for and
discover many types of old-fashioned, humble specimens of domestic
art, and we give as an illustration some houses which date back to
Tudor times, but have, alas! been recently demolished.
[Illustration: Tudor Tenements, New Inn Hall St, Oxford. Now
demolished]
Many conjectures have been made as to the reason why our forefathers
preferred to rear their houses with the upper storeys projecting out
into the streets.
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