Henry Taunt was very well known in the Oxford area for the excellent quality of his photographs of life on Oxfordshire and Berkshire. He flourished from about 1860 to 1910, running his own photographic business in Oxford and producing photographs, postcards and guides. Although fascinated by the Thames, he often ventured into Berkshire, photographing any scene which took his fancy. On one of his Berkshire forays around the turn of the century, he ascended the church tower in Wantage and took a photograph of the canal basin. Any book of old photographs of Oxfordshire worth its salt always contains a number of Henry Taunt's pictures.

Research: Chris Naish.