modern brick buildings. In one of these is established the old Banbury
Cake Shop. In the High Street there is a very perfect example of these
Elizabethan houses, erected about the year 1600. It has a fine oak
staircase, the newels beautifully carved and enriched with pierced
finials and pendants. The market-place has two good specimens of the
same date, one of which is probably the front of the Unicorn Inn, and
had a fine pair of wooden gates bearing the date 1684, but I am not
sure whether they are still there. The Reindeer Inn is one of the
chief architectural attractions of the town. We see the dates 1624 and
1637 inscribed on different parts of the building, but its chief glory
is the Globe Room, with a large window, rich plaster ceiling, good
panelling, elaborately decorated doorways and chimney-piece. The
courtyard is a fine specimen of sixteenth-century architecture. A
curious feature is the mounting-block near the large oriel window. It
must have been designed not for mounting horses, unless these were of
giant size, but for climbing to the top of coaches. The Globe Room is
a typical example of Vanishing England, as it is reported that the
whole building has been sold for transportation to America. We give an
illustration of some old houses in Paradise Square, that does not
belie its name. The houses all round the square are thatched, and the
gardens in the centre are a blaze of colour, full of old-fashioned
flowers. The King's Head Inn has a good courtyard. Banbury suffered
from a disastrous fire in 1628 which destroyed a great part of the
town, and called forth a vehement sermon from the Rev. William
Whateley, of two hours' duration, on the depravity of the town, which
merited such a severe judgment. In spite of the fire much old work
survived, and we give an illustration of a Tudor fire-place which you
cannot now discover, as it is walled up into the passage of an
ironmonger's shop.