Advertisement
Published: July 17th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Winchester possesses a wealth of medieval history, and I got interest in visiting there. Sachi and I travelled to Winchester by train on 24 June. I had printed the map from the Internet, and we thought we could start looking round the Great Hall and Westgate.
As we walked down the on Upper High Street, we found the building for Hampshire Council on the left hand and several stone buildings including the Westgate on the right hand.
We crossed over the busy road and reached the pedestrian path, and found the Great Hall, where King Arthur's Round Table has been hanging. It was amazing to see a sizeable medieval great hall, part of the construction which dates from the 1235, in the reign of Henry III, as well as seeing the fragments of Winchester Castle, which was built with the commission of William the Conqueror, outside of the Great Hall.
One of the outstanding treasures in the Great Hall is King Arthur's Round Table, which was made in the 13th century and was painted with red and white Tudor rose surrounded by King Arthur on this throne in the reign of Henry VIII. On top of the round
table, there were a number of historic statues and decorations to remind of its past glory, e.g. the bronze statue of Queen Victoria, wrought steel gates, coat of arms drawn on the stained glass, etc.
We strolled through the reconstructed medieval garden, i.e. Queen Eleanor Garden, based on the 14th century manuscript. We saw a beautiful fountain, ditches, trellis, and arches with thriving roses and ivy, and scented plants.
There was a castle shop where information leaflets, postcards, stationery items, and clothes related to the Great Hall and Round Table were on sale.
Next, we went to the Westgate, which is one of the two surviving medieval gateways that were once an integral part of the city wall. We found the two crests on the western facade, which was added in the 14th century. We found the way to access the museum. The little museum had a fascinating armoury collection, a set of gibbeting irons, the display of medieval fireplace, Tudor ceiling paintings of the wedding of Mary I and Philip of Spain, and graffiti from the time it was used as a prison. We also went to the roof to see the view of the city.
We walked towards the High Street. When we reached the Buttercross and we saw the sight of Winchester Cathedral. Sachi suggested turning right and going through the path of the Cathedral towards the riverside.
Unfortunately, the part of the footpath was closed and we couldn't find the way to the riverside. We had a picnic lunch on the green space of the Cathedral. I then suggested and said, "We firstly look round the museum, return to High Street and walk towards the riverside, and then ramble along the riverside and College Street and return to Cathedral's site from Kingsgate, and finally we look round the Cathedral." Sachi doubted this plan, but I persuaded her, saying that Winchester is a relatively small town.
We popped in the museum and saw the 2nd century Roman mosaic pavement, 4th century wall paintings, fragments and artefacts from the Prehistory to the Medieval time, the model of the Winchester city with wall, and looked at the Victorian chemist, grocery, and butcher's shop.
Afterwards, we returned to High Street and walked towards Broadway. There were charming timber-framed buildings and they were used for High Street shops. As we approached Broadway, we found the
striking Gothic-Revival Guildhall with many types of coat of arms on the right hand. We learnt that the Guildhall is used for public events, and houses the Tourist Information Centre, Cafe, and gallery of contemporary art. We then found the famous bronze statue of the Saxon King Alfred, which was erected in 1901 to mark the Millennium of his death.
We walked past the Abbey House and gardens and then turned right to do the riverside walk. The water was flowing from the City Mill, which has been restored by the National Trust. There were several ducks and mallards swimming in the River Itchen. We followed the footpath along the city wall and reached College Street.
We found the path for Wolvesey Palace and Ruins on the right hand. There were a group of people who were doing artillery on the school ground. Wolvesey Palace Ruin was free to enter and has been managed by English Heritage. We walked round the ruins of the Bishop’s Palace, which was thought to be built by the Anglo-Saxon Ethelwold in the late 970s, and enlarged as a medieval palace later. We found the former nave, porch, cloister, and kitchen and ditches.
I later learnt that Mary I and Philip of Spain had a feast at the palace after their wedding at the Cathedral in 1554.
We returned to College Street, and found the Winchester College and Jane Austen’s last house. I told Sachi that Jane Austen is one of the most well-known classic authors in Britain and she produced a number of excellent work, which have been made into dramas, films, and plays.
We went through the Kingsgate. Sachi adored the timber-framed houses with mullioned windows and thriving climbers, i.e. Cheyney Court. We followed the sign for the Cathedral and went past vaulted porch, i.e. the Deanery, Chapter House Ruins in the Close.
We finally entered Winchester Cathedral. We were asked to pay for the admission charge. We were impressed with the spectacular 14th century nave, Norman and Gothic style interior and decorations, well preserved tombs and monuments of early Saxon monarchs and bishops, Jane Austen’s grave, and 12th century black Tournail marble fond, medieval screens and choir’s seats with carvings of musical monkey. The mighty cathedral’s history was started in 1079, and there have been numerous modifications done in parallel with the trend and bishops’ taste over the time. Nevertheless, features of the Norman architecture, e.g. Norman crypt, nave and beams are still visible. I was impressed with the old mural of one of the saints and found it interesting in the fishermen’s chapel of St John the Evangelist and Fishermen’s Apostles. There was a beautiful oak altar with carvings of swimming fish. We popped out to the shop. We read through the guide book of the Cathedral. Sachi was interested in the Winchester Bibles. We showed the receipts of the admission charge to the receptionist and I politely asked her if she would let us re-enter the cathedral and go to the library. She let us in, however, she told us to rush to the library, as it would close at 4pm. Library staff were very friendly and showed us what we had to see. We looked at collections of Winchester Bibles with the 12-13th century illustration and manuscripts, original statues of the Great Screen and fragments from the 13th century monuments in regard to St Swithin. Winchester Cathedral was used for the film setting for Da Vinci Code recently.
Afterwards, we went back to London.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.177s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 15; qc: 58; dbt: 0.1212s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb