Oakham

Until 1880 this area was the butchers’ shambles, then replaced by the pump (in the shelter, foreground). There are milk churns on the cart outside F W Hart ‘Family Grocer, Tea and Provision Merchant’. Note the errand boy’s bike propped up against the gas light. There is a motorbike and sidecar up in the corner near the Butter Cross. Could it be the one bought for the police station in 1926? A boarding house of Oakham School is behind the pump surrounded by railings.
An extract from from"Uppingham Photographic Memories".

The church is an elegant creation of around 1300, with a tall, slim five-bay arcade and clerestorey, creating a tremendous feeling of space. The arcade capitals are carved with biblical scenes, mixed up with birds and animals. The flower-decked font is dated around 1225.
An extract from from"Leicestershire Photographic Memories".

This is a beautiful group. The 14th-century tower and spire of the parish church dominates the market place and school to its south, while to the east, the castle remains combine to produce the classic juxtaposition of lordly and ecclesiastical dominance.
An extract from from"Leicestershire Photographic Memories".

A pleasant, traffic-free scene with the horse and cart unattended, patiently waiting for the master’s return from Illsley the saddlers. The post office is on the left then Corney Manufacturing Jeweller. Amongst other businesses is the chemist beyond the Crown Hotel and opposite, the family firm of Matkin’s printers, who from 1881 to 1941 published an almanac listing people and occupations in town and county. Flore’s House protrudes in the distance - one of the oldest houses in Oakham dating from the 14th century.
An extract from from"Uppingham Photographic Memories".

This classic view has All Saints’ spire behind the shops with the famous Butter Cross (at least 300 years old) in the middle. Hart and Smith next to each other seem to sell just about everything anyone could want - postcards, wooden hoops, newspapers, parasols, toys and groceries. Glaziers, the well-known family draper, milliner, outfitter and clothier is opposite the Butter Cross selling trilby hats at 3s 11d, boys suits from 7s 11d and a galaxy of other goods.
An extract from from"Uppingham Photographic Memories".