 Middle Street, the most important and central of these streets, was built up from the 16th century, and was lined with houses both large and small, inns, the town's oldest school and a richly decorated synagogue.Land on the east side of the street was chosen as the site of the Real Ice Skating Rink in 1897.It was designed by the architect Lewis Karslake and had a long stuccoed façade with short towers at each end.