Henley-on-Thames Then & Now

Known around the world for its famous Royal Regatta, the Henley-on-Thames of today is a picturesque centre for the fashionable and successful. This was not always the case for this vibrant riverside town however – once a thriving river port, the railway boom of the 1840s took Henley’s traditional trade with it, and the town’s once beautiful buildings gradually fell into disrepair. Henley had to find a new source of prosperity – and in 1851, Prince Albert’s patronage of the Henley annual regatta was just what it needed.

Oxfordshire historian John Pilling and photographer Laurence Waters have curated a selection of archive images and stunning modern photographs of Henley ‘then’ and ‘now’, fascinatingly illustrating the changing face of this popular town and providing an amazing insight into its history.