ury, and the Apollo Room was added as a banqueting hall for the
judges on circuit. This is now used as a showroom, but it still retains
its elaborate plaster ceiling bearing the date 1695, and the original
oak panelling. The frieze consists of a series of wreaths upholding
shields charged with the armorial bearings of many county families,
together with the royal arms and those of the city.

Farther up the street is the church of St. Stephen, mentioned in
Domesday. The original church was destroyed by the Commonwealth in 1658,
and rebuilt in 1664. Stephen's Bow, the adjacent archway, was always a
part of the church, and above it rises the tower; beneath the church is
an ancient crypt. A turning to the right close by leads to Bedford
Circus, with a statue of the Earl of Devon at the entrance. In the
thirteenth century a Dominican Convent was founded in this part of the
city, and occupied the southern portion of the circus, together with
Chapel Street and the adjoining mews. In 1558 the convent was dissolved,
and Bedford House, the West-Country residence of the Dukes of Bedford,
was erected. Here Henrietta Maria held her Court, and here the little
princess was born. The Dukes of Bedford ceased to use this residence in
the eighteenth century, and in 1773 it fell into the builders' hands,
when the eastern side of the circus was built, the western side not
being begun until 1826. The place to-day possesses no attractive
features, and only the memories of its past history remain. The earlier
excavations brought to light a great number of skulls, bones, and
fragments of sculpture; while during the later building operations,
especially those conducted on the site of the conventual church, a large
number of carved stones were unearthed which had evidently formed part
of the Dominican house. Some of these fragments were richly ornamented
with painting and gilding. Another discovery was the life-size stone
head of an effigy with a hood of closely set ring mail. This is now
preserved in the Cathedral cloisters.

Returning to High Street, Bampfylde Street lies a little higher up. A
great portion of this street is occupied by the front of Bampfylde
House, built by Sir Amyas Bampfylde at the end of the sixteenth century.
In later years this became the town house of the Poltimore family.
Although shamefully modernized the house has retained a few interesting
features. In the hall is seen a narrow window filled with old glass on
which