This weekend we visit the city of Winchester in Hampshire. I think I have been there before, but it was long ago. I remember seeing King Arthur's round table as a kid, but that venue was closed this time. We did want to check out the cathedral though. I am not religious, but I can appreciate buildings for their history.
It was a lovely day and we had a quick drink sitting outside the cafe first. You have to pay to get in when there is not a service on. Easter will be a busy time for them, but lots of tourists were having a look. The lines of bricks on the grass mark out the location of the previous church that was built by the Anglo Saxons. William the Conqueror came along in 1066 and made his way to what was then the capital of England. He wanted to show his power by building a new cathedral and building started in 1079. You may notice a difference in the style of the windows at each end. The arched ones in the distance are original, but a later bishop had them rebuilt in the current style. He did not finish the job before he died.
There was a tour starting just after we arrived and a nice volunteer lady called Karen took us around. She had plenty to show us. We did not know too much about the place, so this was really useful.
One of the most famous people buried there is the author Jane Austen. Her grave does not mention her writing, but then she was not famous at the time as she did not publish under her own name. There is a later memorial on the wall that was paid for by fans.
It is impressive inside. The ceiling was also re-modelled with lots of carved 'bosses' on the arches. The big window was smashed during the English civil war and then rebuilt from fragments that locals recovered.
The font has a carving telling the story of Saint Nicholas who inspired the story of Santa Claus.
There is a memorial to diver William Walker who spent five years repairing the foundations when the building started to sink into the peaty ground. Any holes that were dug filled with water, so he would take concrete down to support the foundations. I knew this story as it was told in a song by Big Big Train.
There are chests there that contain the bones of several Saxon nobles including King Cnut (aka Canute) plus Saint Swithun. These have survived attacks by civil way soldiers and raiding of treasures by Henry the Eighth. There is a small museum with various artefacts, a library of old books and the 900 year old Winchester Bible. We were impressed by how much is there and how it has survived all this time.
One thing I noticed was a lot of graffiti carved into the stone in parts of the building. Some of this dates back hundreds of years, but some appeared to be very recent judging by the dates people had added. I really do not understand how people these days can think it is okay to damage a historic building. Vandalism is idiotic enough, but this is way beyond that. I hope some of them were caught and prosecuted. I did see a guy keeping an eye on the camera feeds.
We had a wander around the town and there are lots of other old buildings to check out. Some are still in use as shops and restaurants. We had dinner in one of those before going to catch our train. When we got to the station there were a lot of police around and we found that the train had been cancelled due to trespassers on the line. We had to wait another hour for the next one, but just waited there as we had done a lot of walking. I will warn you that the station is at the top of a hill above the town centre, so some may find it hard work to get around.
I would say the city is worth a visit. There is more to see, including England's oldest public school Winchester College that taught our current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, fascist Oswald Mosley and comedian Tim Brooke-Taylor.
Happy travels.
