I still enjoy collecting old photographs of Bosham and thought you might be interested to see two recent additions to my archive below, which I have licensed from the National Archives in Kew for a book of Bosham photographs, and am slowly compiling. The two prints were originally deposited into the National Archives in December 1896, and I have included the copyright entries that I was sent by their Image Library Manager for your interest too...
As you can see in the entry below, this print was deposited on the 21st December 1896 by Jessie W Dick of St. Leonards, Dunblane, Perthshire and is titled 'Photograph of view at Bosham, church in background, water in foreground'. It's perhaps the most interesting view of Bosham's old mill pond I have seen to date, showing the open field to the right that is now used as a dinghy park by Bosham Sailing Club, beyond in the distance the end of a ship can be seen on the stocks, behind the houses. Is the lady on the right in front of the haystack picking blackberries? It does give a sense of just how big Bosham's millpond actually was when the watermill was in operation on Bosham Quay. To read more about Bosham's old watermill and millpond please click here.
This second print was also deposited by Jessie Walker Dick on the same date and is titled 'Photograph of Bosham from Hone Point'. The photographer has captured the scene at a lovely state of the tide with the seagrass and curve of the road providing interest in the foreground, in the background we see the classic view of Bosham reflected beautifully in the sea. On the left we see fishing boats moored off the Quay. Notice the quite subdued tones of the print (sky and sea) typical of 19th century prints compared to today's much brighter prints our eyes are used to seeing, which along with the gentle neap tide create a wonderful sense of tranquillity. To read more about Bosham's fishing fleet in the 19th century please click here.
It is difficult to see on these low resolution copies within an email newsletter, but having inspected the high resolution scans in Adobe Photoshop the prints are in relatively good condition. You can see a line running north-south on the left of the first photograph where the print has been damaged, and on the second print there are obvious signs of ageing and a large spot missing on the right-hand side, but most of this damage can be restored. I hope to write again and show them both fully restored so you can see what the original photographs looked like when they were made back in 1896.
I am currently re-listing the most popular photographs of Bosham from my archive; please use the link above to see the full collection, which is being added to over the coming weeks. I do hope you have enjoyed seeing these new prints, and if you would like to comment or send me a note please do so below, I'd be very pleased to hear from you...
