Step back in time to discover what life was like on Broad Street in Victorian Portsmouth
CITY residents will hopefully soon be able to take a virtual step back in time to experience what one of Portsmouth’s most iconic streets was like at the end of the Victorian era.
Stephen Hibberd, 50, a 3D designer who grew up in Copnor, has spent the last six months painstakingly recreating a virtual image of Broad Street between 1890 and 1910. To recreate the iconic city street, Stephen has used photographs from Portsmouth Museum and images sent via Facebook.
‘While the project is not yet complete, I want to recreate a 360 degree image which can project people into the middle of the street so they can look round and see what things were like. I also want to develop the images so that you can walk down the street and point your phone at a building and you can see what it was like back in 1900,’ said Stephen.
He decided to focus on the period between the Victorian and Edwardian era as ‘this gives an insight into the city’s past but at a time in which photographs were available’. Now living in Oxford, Stephen decided to recreate Broad Street due to its rich history.
‘I was originally going to cover the High Street but I discovered this had already been done by a gentlemen who unfortunately died. Broad Street has such a long history as it goes back almost to Roman times. It was close to where the ships used to dock and there were lots of pubs full of sailors doing what sailors do,’ he said
Whilst creating the virtual street, the former city resident has learnt about some of the ‘fascinating’ characters who lived there and the stories of what took place.
Stephen said: ‘At the end of the street is The Point. A lady managed to set off some gun powder which was stored there. She survived but the explosion threw people all over the place with one person ending up on the roof of the Union Pub.’
While some of the street remains recognisable a large amount has changed – particularly on the north side.
Stephen commented: ‘One of the pubs which remains is the the Spice Island Inn. There were a lot of pubs in that area – many of which have now been converted into houses. Very little of the north side of the street remains as a lot of buildings were destroyed during the war.’
Some of the buildings which have now disappeared include the Somerset Hotel and the Star and Garter Inn where Stephen said Napoleon once stayed.
Stephen has so far completed the street from The Point down to what was the Seagull Pub which is now an estate agents. To complete the virtual 3D street, Stephen would still like anyone who has any photographs of the street around 1900 to contact him via his Facebook page.
‘I hope to have the project and website complete by the end of the year,’ said Stephen.