Neighbourhood Studies
Oram's Arbour and St James's Lane
3 History
Oram's Arbour
Prior to the plague in the 14th century the area was inhabited, with two parish churches, St Anastasius on the site of the present St Paul's, and St James's, in the present Catholic Cemetery. This last has been in almost continuous use since the Middle Ages. Following the plague, the area remained largely unpopulated until the railway was built in 1839; this stimulated development. The demand for officers' houses close to the barracks also contributed to the demand for housing.
Development started in 1836 with the Workhouse (later St Paul's Hospital and now redeveloped). In the 1840s, development quickened with mostly terraced and semi-detached houses, the finest being Clifton Terrace (1840-51) in cream brick with elaborate Bath stone dressings, by O. B. Carter. Development of some other terraces was even slower. Judging from the style, West End Terrace and St James's Terrace (begun in 1840) took some fifty or sixty years to complete.