24 & 26 George Street, Oxford
The image below, published in Jackson's Oxford Journal of 6 October 1900, shows Nos. 24 & 26 George Street on the corner of Gloucester Street (latterly Jamie's Italian restaurant and now Megan's) when they were newly built.
Published under the heading “George Street Improvements”, it included in the top left-hand corner a vignette of the ancient buildings it replaced, with the one on the left bearing the sign “Victoria Dairy”. The text below read:
The above sketch shows the improvement recently made in George-street, Oxford, by the removal of the ancient terraced building immediately below the theatre. Some very commodious shops, with dwelling-houses over, have been erected on the site, fronting on Gloucester-street and George-street, and the appearance of this portion of the thoroughfare has entirely changed its character within the last few months. Our sketch of the new buildings is from a photo supplied by Mr. Joyner, of George-street, and the small vignette of the old edifices is taken from a pencil sketch by Mr. T. Grimsley.
The Google Streetview image below shows the same scene in 2018 when Jamie's Italian Restaurant was still open there:
Jackson's Oxford Journal reported on 13 October 1900:
GEORGE-STREET—This central thoroughfare has recently undergone considerable alterations by the demolition of the old ice-house and the remaining portion of the terrace and old houses standing on it, and the rearing of a group of very extensive business premises by Messrs. Kingerlee and Sons. The improvement has caused the roadway at the corner of Gloucester-street to be widened by several feet.
The former building on this site was numbered 66 & 67, but by 1899 when Hugh Howes was the dairyman on the corner it was numbered 22.
By 1914 the new building of 1900 was numbered 24 & 26, the same numbers it has today. From that date until the 1970s it was occupied by the Co-op: first by their gents' outfitters, tailors, hosiers, hatters department, then by their hardware stores, and finally by their china & glass department. They moved out by 1973, but until the renovations by Megan's in 2026 the names of the early departments could be seen engraved at the top of the glass windows: see their ghost signs page.
In 1996 planning permission was granted for change of use from shop to public house, and the Cock & Camel opened here.
In 2008 Jamie Oliver opened his first Italian restaurant in the UK here, but this whole chain of shops collapsed in 2019. After being vacant for seven years, Megan's is opening here in August 2026.
