Back in March we had an enquiry from a gentleman trying to establish the date of a couple of photographs of the bridge at Bradford on Avon. They were amongst his grandfather’s collection of 598 ‘magic lantern’ slides, many of which were unnamed. He had been unsure of the location of the photographs, but the bridge happened to be featured in a TV programme he was watching called ‘Country Tracks’, and it looked like a good candidate!
The first of two photographs of the bridge at Bradford On Avon
Our Ref: P53801  

Upon receipt of the images, it took just one look to realise that they were indeed of the bridge at Bradford. To try to date the images we used two books from our Local Studies Collection, ‘Bradford on Avon: a pictorial record’ edited by Harold Fassnidge and Peter Maundrell, and ‘Bradford in Avon in old Picture Postcards’ by Adrian Powell. Both included pictures of the bridge, one dated c. 1892 and the other 1900. Walter’s photograph showed some metal work in a cross pattern appearing on the blind house. The image of 1900 showed the cross in place but by about 1916 it had disappeared. The other image (taken in or before 1892) had been taken from a slightly different angle but showed the river bank without the ornate metal fence in the picture dated 1900. This fence was also missing in our photograph, suggesting a date of c.1890. 

His grandfather, Walter J Pearce, had been taking photographs from at least 1889, when he took some at the Paris Exhibition. He was part of a delegation of craftsmen sent by the Lord Mayor of London to report on his craft of painting, decorating and gilding. His grandson told us that Walter had actually climbed onto the outside of the Eiffel Tower to look at the paintwork; it had been painted lighter towards the top to make the tower appear slimmer! To discover more about the photographer and the bridge, please 'read more'...

Walter was born in 1856 and became an orphan in 1867, being sent to the James Muller orphanage, Bristol, in 1869. In 1871 he became apprenticed to Gregory Howe at Chard where he completed his apprenticeship before moving on to London and then to Manchester. His hobbies were photography, rock climbing and fell walking. 

 
The second image
Our Ref: P53802 

Walter’s grandson had also made a further discovery. Amongst his grandfather’s collection was a photograph of Charlotte Younge, a ‘prominent’ Victorian author. Her last book, called ‘Modern Broods’ and published in 1900 included a character who was ‘a very promising young artist from a noted firm who specialises in church decoration’. In the 1880s Walter had worked for Cox and Sons in London who specialised in Church restoration (also an interest of Charlotte’s). Charlotte’s home was in Otterbourne, Hampshire, approximately 47 miles away from Bradford. It is not too much a stretch of the imagination to think that the photograph could have been taken at this time, and indeed our research appears to also support this theory.

The bridge itself is one of only a few bridges that date back to medieval times. The integral blind house was built on the foundations of a chapel, built in the early 14^th century and placed there to receive the ‘devotion and alms of the pilgrims’. The alms were used for the upkeep of St. Margaret’s Hospital. In its time it has also been used as a lock up, toll house and ammunition store before 1914 (Powell, 1983).

 
The turnstile at Stonehenge, late 19th century
Our Ref: P53803

Many thanks to David Pearce for donating copies of his grandfather’s photographs of Bradford on Avon and Stonehenge to our Wiltshie Historic Photographic Collection, and for relating to us the fascinating details regarding his grandfather, Walter J. Pearce.

Julie Davis
Local Studies Assistant

References:
‘Bradford on Avon in Old Photographs’ by Adrian C. Powell, 1983, ISBN: 90 288 2380 8, Ref: BRD.771

‘Bradford on Avon: a pictorial record’, edited by Harold Fassnidge and Peter Maundrell, 1983, ISBN: 0 86080 105 5, Ref: BRD.771