Visit to Winchester

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Visit to Winchester



Mark took a day off on Friday, 5 March 2014, and treated me to visit Winchester.



We had lunch at the Chinese Restaurant near the station. Then, we headed for the Cathedral via the High Street.



After paying the admission fees, we started strolling through the inside of the Cathedral, found the medieval nave, 12^th century font, Jane Austen’s grave, the great screen, monuments of celebrities including William Walker, choir stalls with ornate carvings with the theme of a lively enchanted forest, the fishermen’s chapel, and looked round the library and Triforium Gallery. We saw the priceless Winchester Bible and a number of beautiful illustrated books in the library and fragments of the old monuments including the tomb of St Swithum.

The highlights include the Norman Crypt situated beneath the east end of the Cathedral. Unfortunately, the abnormal rainfall of south western part of England caused the closure of the Norman Crypt, so we couldn’t visit there on 5 March.



Next, we walked through the Close, seeing picturesque medieval buildings, such as the Deaney or Cheyney Court. We found Jane Austen’s last residential home, and Winchester College on College Street.



We were going to Bishop’s Palace, Wolvesey Palace ruins and doing the riverside walk. However, the water level of the River Itchen was very high and the footpath of Weirs Walk and entrance of Wolversey Palace ruins were closed. When crossing over the bridge, we could see the water was nearly flooding over on the both banks, and the part of the footpath route was muddy and very wet.



We decided to climb to St Giles Hill. The viewpoint allowed us to overlook the historic town, historic ruins, e.g. Wolvesey Palace.



Afterwards, we ambled through Bridge Street via City Mill (run by the National Trust) and walked past King Alfred’s statue, Abbey House and Gardens, and Guildhall on the Broadway.



We popped into the Great Hall, and found King Arthur’s Round Table, the bronze statue of Queen Victoria, wrought steel gates, stained glass with heraldic marks, the east wall painted with a great the name of the Parliamentary representatives of Hampshire from the earliest times and Queen Eleanor’s Garden.



We thoroughly enjoyed the visit to Winchester on 5 March 2014.

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