Photograph of the Westgate, decorated for the Rifle Brigade
Taken in 1874
This view looks west up the High Street to the mediaeval Westgate of the city which is decorated for the return of the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade from the Gold Coast of West Africa, the banner across the top reading 'Welcome to Old Winton'. To the right is The Plume of Feathers, to the left The Westgate Tavern.
There was a strong military presence in Winchester in the nineteenth century; from 1796 Charles II's unfinished palace, lying to the south-west of the Westgate, had been used as an army barracks. The Rifle Depot was established there in 1858, being formed of the King's Royal Rifle Corps and The Rifle Brigade, the latter having gained its title after serving with particular distinction at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage (1817-87) and is found in an album of his work.
