Photograph of the Itchen Navigation south of Winchester
Taken about 1875
Improvements to the River Itchen to facilitate navigation by boats and barges between Southampton and Winchester was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1665, but by 1869 commercial traffic had ceased. Evidently the Itchen Navigation with its towpath was enjoyed as a recreational facility by smartly dressed sailors and walkers following its decline as a transportation route.
In the background is St Catherine's Hill, an Iron Age hillfort whose earthworks can just be seen. It would have dominated this part of the valley in the last few centuries before the birth of Christ, and seems to have been abandoned in about 100 B.C.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage (1817-87) and is found in an album entitled 'Winchester Views of Modern Buildings'.
