Winchester High Street looking east, about 1903

In this photograph taken by W T Green the two little girls standing in the foreground catch the eye, but there is a great deal going on behind them. A smartly dressed coachman awaits his employer, a man peers into a shop window, a policeman stands at the junction with St Thomas’ Street and a lady wheels her bicycle up the street. At 99 High Street Lennards Ltd (boot and shoe makers) include in their imaginative advertising a boot on a horse-drawn wagon.

Further down the street premises are occupied by a music shop, a bank, a bookseller and dressmakers and outfitters. The clock extending from the old Guildhall, the slender lines of the Butter Cross and the west side of City Cross Refreshments marking the beginning of the Pentice are all familiar landmarks. 

W T Green’s identity puzzled Museums curators here for many years and it was only in 2010 that co-operation between the archivists of Winchester College and the City of Winchester Trust brought to light his real name – Walter Thomas Greenland. It appears that he chose to use the name W T Green for his photographic work.

A selection of other photographs by W T Green can be viewed in the “Gallery” section.

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