Four Times of the Day is 29 May, Oak Apple Day, a public holiday which celebrated the Restoration of the monarchy (demonstrated by the oak boughs above the barber's sign and on some of the subjects' hats, which recall the royal oak tree in which Charles II hid after losing the Battle of Worcester in 1651). Alternatively, Sean Shesgreen has suggested that the date is 3 September, commemorating the battle of Worcester itself, a dating that preserves the seasonal progression from winter to spring to summer to autumn. Charing Cross was a central staging post for coaches, but the congested narrow road was a frequent
The Royal Oak, Toodyay (1853-1860) 1850, both of which he sold to the government in 1851 for a handsome profit. After the sale of his property to the government, and the sale of the original Royal Oak, he built and moved into a cottage on lot R26. However, he was a man of ambition and before the year was out he began building an inn of his own. The Royal Oak was comparatively large in size. It was very likely built of brick as, by that time, bricks were becoming available in the Toodyay Valley. The roof would have been either thatched or shingled. Stables,