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54
Market Buildings.—Market Buildings is situated at the
south end of White Horse Alley, and consists of 16 tenements in
17 rooms. These 17 rooms are occupied by 14 families, comprising
24 heads of families, 8 children over 10 years, 7 children under
10 years, a total of 39 persons. The 17 tenements are numbered
consecutively from 1 to 17. One family occupies Nos. 6 and 8.
There are 2 rooms in No. 11. No. 9 is at present unoccupied—the
tenants recently went away clandestinely, leaving their children
behind, and the room dirty and littered with rubbish and broken
furniture.
Of the 17 rooms, 15 were used for living and sleeping, 1 for
sleeping only, and 1 for living only. The weekly rents ranged from
3s. lid. to 5s. per room. The total weekly rent of the whole
buildings is £3 17s. 2d., giving an average rent per room of 4s. 2d.
per week. In addition the tenants pay the rates and taxes.
The buildings are entered from White Horse Alley, and have
one side overlooking the narrow part of the Alley.
The width of this portion of the Alley ranges from 5 ft. to
6 ft. 5 in.
One side of the buildings is opposed to the back walls of 19
and 20, Cowcross Street. One side overlooks the recess in White
Horse Alley. The remaining or west side of Market Buildings
overlooks various covered-in business premises.
The Buildings therefore lie in a crowded business quarter and
are obstructed more or less in respect of light and ventilation by
adjacent buildings.
There is an extensive crack in the brickwork near the southwest
corner of the buildings. It runs from the window arch of
No. 5 almost vertically upwards to the second floor level.
Some of the tenements, notably Nos. 3 and 8, are very dark,
so much so that gas has to be kept burning most part of the day.
Speaking generally, with the exception mentioned above, the
carcase of the buildings, the bricks, mortar, concrete and ironwork