Our first rounded corner on the Trail is the TSB bank situated on the corner of Priory Place and High St. This impressive building was constructed in Portland stone to the designs of a London architect for the National Provincial Bank.  It was built by the local firm of Harold Arnold and Son. The Council paid the bank £400 to round the corner.

On the walk look for the sculptured panel over the main entrance and the lion heads which are high up on both sides of the building.

Blundells, comprises 2 houses and part of 43 Princes Street and was built in 1796. It has bow windows extending through three floors, an ornate doorway with urns and a balustrade above.

Notice the stonewalling below the ground floor windows, and the small shell-like moldings below the second-floor windows and the lead rainwater hoppers.

The building was the home of William Lindley, a noted architect in the town, before he moved to the Pillared Houses.

​It was designed in 1882 by Wilson and Masters for a Conservative Club with shops underneath. The cellar was run by  James Milnthorpe who was a maltster, and hotel owner and was involved in various schemes. Later he bought the Salutation Inn on South Parade.

The older maps of 1850s show that the building may have been part of the entrance to the large Nether Hall estate before it was later developed into housing in the 1870s.

Ye Olde Crown was built in 1795, and stood in this approximate location until the original building was demolished and rebuilt in 1902. In that year Greyfriars Road was laid through from the Great North Road to the Market Place, to accommodate the construction of the electricity station to power the new tram system.

The Danum was built in two parts -- the first part seen here was built in 1909/10 -- the second part was built immediately after the WW1, and took out the small building with the Georgian window. The hotel was all decked out to celebrate Empire day, May 24, 1912.

The Hole in the Wall Building

Joshua Beetham was born in Hooton Pagnell in 1725 and came into the liquor trade in 1760. the earliest reference to Beetham in St. George Gate was 1787, when he is the landlord of the George and Dragon. Joshua had 7 children and when he died in 1798 his business was passed to his 4th son, also called Joshua, the Beetham family ran the pub up until 1945 when the family business was sold.in 1986. Whitbread changed the name to the Gatehouse and sadly the 200-year association with Beetham ended.

A modern take on Rounded Corner Buildings, utilising glass instead of brick. The old Girls High school, that replaced the Victorian built Chequer House now protected inside the glass frontispiece.