Continue past the Almshouses to The Green.
The Green was the original town centre and all the houses facing onto it are listed. The oldest are Elizabethan, some facades having been modernised (or gentrified) in the 18th and 19th centuries by the increasingly wealthy wool
merchants who lived there. Notable are:
30 The Green - Miss Ellinor Gabriel was an important supporter of plans for a school for girls, acquiring this building as the first home of St. Mary’s School.
Gabriel was the first Superintendent of the school, which opened in 1873. She also covered the deficit in the budget, paying over £300 from her own pocket. In 1890, she acquired the two houses adjoining the schoolhouse for additional accommodation.
19 The Green – where Joseph Priestley, discoverer of oxygen (see 15) lived for two years from 1773 to 1775 before moving to the Mill Street vicarage.