St. John's Street - Trust Annual Report 1981
The Trust has for many years had a particular interest in the St. John's Street area of Winchester. An historic street and once a main route from the City, it forms a key feature of the area called the Soke, linking the old buildings of Bridge Street and Chesil Street with the splendid group of dwellings which includes the old Blue Boar and St. John's Croft. The street contains the Church of St. John the Baptist and Tudor House but its most characteristic feature is the steep descending street-line edged by the old Victorian stepped terraces of artisan houses which, with their tall chimneys, slate roofs and decorative brickwork, make one of the most evocative of Winchester's street scenes.
Once sadly neglected, the street is now being re-born with many houses at the lower end restored by private owners, and the area near the Church (including Chester Road) the subject of a large Council re-development scheme. As a result an opportunity has come to the Trust to acquire from the Council, and rehabilitate, 10 of the Victorian cottages which would otherwise have been demolished or drastically altered. For the first time the Trust, with finance and help from the Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust, hopes to embark on a major re-construction scheme which, if successful, would not only help to preserve the character of one of Winchester's most significant streets, but would represent a real coming of age for the Trust.