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Westgate Street_ Painted by Louise J. Rayner (1832 - 1924)
- Owner: Glawster -Born (View all albums)
- Uploaded: Dec 29 2010 07:13 PM
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Westgate Street_ Painted by Louise J. Rayner (1832 - 1924)
From Roman times or even earlier, Westgate Street was the most important street in Gloucester, being on major trading routes of the time. In mediaeval times the street had a middle row of buildings, but these are long gone, leaving a wider street in their place. To the left of Louise's picture (just titled Gloucester, as far as we know, and looking towards the north-west) is St. Nicholas's Church. The step in its spire is a legacy from the English Civil War, when Gloucester was besieged by the Royalists in 1643, and their artillery scored a direct hit on what was once a 200 foot high spire. In Louise's nineteenth century view, pavements have arrived, but not street lighting. There are one or two hints of large skirts, but usually on large women, so these give no pointers to period, so we'd suggest the 1870s until someone can confirm or correct us. A lot of old building still survive in the street today, but fresh modern frontages have disguised them a little too well for them to match the charm of Louise's painting.
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GRACELAND, on 29 December 2010 - 07:29 PM, said:
Seeing Westgate Street mentioned on the board, I searched online for old photos of the Glass House, or the Nag's Head pub, in lower Westgate Street and just happened to stumble upon the above photo of the above painting of Westgate Street_ Painted by Louise J. Rayner (1832 - 1924.
Up until then, I had never heard of her existence ? Seems she only painted the ONE picture of Westgate Street and nothing else in the whole of Gloucestershire ?
