Title Picture - TrustNews Spring 1988
Drawing of Bankside Cottages High cliffe by Michael Carden
This tall terrace was built in 1891 on the very edge of Highcliffe, overlooking the Quarry Road entrance to winchester. Despite their increasingly run-down appearance they have always seemed a slightly exotic group from the lower road because of their height and the covered balcony which runs over the arcaded ground floor.
On the southern side they are much more conventional, only two storeys high but with stone quoins, window surrounds and string courses still giving them an aura something rather special. In fact they are only one room deep, so that each house is quite small, but with that very special characteristic of rooms with windows facing in opposite directions. This, along with the quality of the detailing and proud stone date and name panels, shows that they were not built cheaply and that they were meant to last.
It would be a sad reflection on our time and on the present owners if they were allowed to deteriorate any further. The last couple of years has seen a rapid decline, with the cottages becoming vacant, windows boarded-up, and the collapse of the balcony roof.
We are worried because this sort of thing has so often been the prelude to claims prom owners that the buildings are beyond repair and would be much better demolished and replaced with something new and nondescript.
The Trust fears that if indecision over the future of the cottages continues for much longer, Winchester will once more be at risk of losing an irreplaceable part of its character. Rather than let this happen, the Trust would be willing to consider buying the terrace so as to restore it to its original character before selling to individual owners. Rut whatever happens money should soon be spent on keeping the water out, unblocking the rainwater pipes, and generally accepting the respons¬ibility for ownership of a small but important piece of Winchester's character.