The romance of Bath Place by evaanna
This charming tiny cobbled lane off Holywell St caught my imagination as soon as I spotted it on my last visit to Oxford. I had no time to explore it so I just took a photo and looked for more information on the Internet. The street, lined with seventeenth century cottages built by Flemish weavers, is situated at the foot of the old city wall, now in the heart of Oxford. Its name comes from a communal well and bathhouse that are believed to have been there in ancient times. Though the street was then inhabited by the low classes, Jane Morris, the daughter of a stockman and born in one of the cottages was the inspiration to Dante Gabrielle Rosetti when he painted his picture of Proserpine, the Greek and Roman goddess, and indeed became the archetype of 'female beauty'. King Edward VII often visited acquaintances living there and in the 1920's the well-known writer Dorothy L. Sayers made Bath Place her home and described the life there in her books. A B&B in one of the cottages is rumoured to have been the venue of Richard Burton and Elisabeth Taylor's secret meetings when Burton was acting at the Oxford playhouse before they got married. The cottages now house the Bath Place Hotel - what a romantic place to stay in.
