THE photograph this week is of Salisbury Market Place taken in 1863 and highlights some of the businesses that once graced the square. The 19th century saw significant changes to the Market Place and early photographs record many now lost buildings dating back to the Middle Ages. In 1858 the Maidenhead Inn on the west side was replaced by the Cheese Market, now the library. The most noticeable change was the development of the north side. This included the building of the Lloyds Bank in 1869 and the construction of the shop front of Debenhams (formerly Style and Gerrish).

The photo is just one of many taken from a wonderful exhibition currently on show at Salisbury Museum in the Cathedral Close entitled The Origins of Photography in Salisbury 1839-1919. The exhibition provides a snapshot of the manner in which photographers used various processes and formats to record the city, its buildings, public spaces and inhabitants.

I particularly enjoyed seeing the series of studio portraits of costumes for the 1919 Peace Pageant, and Nelson Road during the construction of Scamell’s Bridge – a wonderful photograph taken in 1898 by Salisbury photographer Horace Charles Messer. Also I should mention William Blackmore (1827-1878) who not only founded the Blackmore Museum in Salisbury, but effectively exploited photography to document North American Indians and amassed an important photographic collection.

The current edition of ‘The Fisherton Informer’ magazine gives a fascinating account and possible explanation as to why the boat train express disaster happened in Salisbury Railway Station in 1906. The museum exhibition includes a remarkable photographic collection showing the devastation caused by this terrible incident.

Photographs are important windows into the past. Salisbury Museum should be congratulated for putting together such a well presented and informative exhibition – it really is worth seeing.

l The Origins of Photography in Salisbury Museum continues until May 4

l The Fisherton Informer magazine is available from the History Bookshop, Fisherton Street