Winchester
The relatively small size and quaint English charm of Winchester belie the eminence of this old Cathedral City as the ancient capital of England .
For almost 100 years Winchester was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Wessex and of England since King Alfred the Great , commemorated with a proud statue in the centre of town, consolidated the Anglo-Saxons against the Danish Vikings here in 878. It remained capital under the reign of the Danish kings following King Canute from the 10th Century and when William the Conqueror was crowned King of England in 1066, he was crowned in Winchester as well as London .
Winchester is an affluent town full of the character and quaint customs that make England so popular. The town’s main attraction is the magnificent Cathedral regarded as one of the best surviving examples of Gothic Perpendicular architecture anywhere.
The cathedral stands on the same site as a 7th Century Saxon Minster, and was built in 1093 in a Romanesque style, though much of it was rebuilt in the English Gothic style during the 14th and 15th Centuries. This remodelling was largely under the direction of the Bishop Wykeham, who was also responsible for the establishment of Winchester College and is buried in the Crypt at the cathedral. St Swithin an earlier Bishop of Winchester, is also buried here after his body was removed from the grounds and placed in a shrine in the cathedral, apparently against his express wishes to be buried in the open air. According to legend, the day his body was transferred, there was torrential rain. Thus giving rise to the typically English item of folklore, that if it rains on St Swithin’s Day (July 15th) it will rain for forty days! Also buried at Winchester is the novelist Jane Austin and Winchester has countless plaques around the cathedral in honour of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in British Regiments who also have museums dedicated to them in Winchester town.
A walk around the sleepy Cathedral Close takes you past splendid medieval of the Deanery, Pilgrim's Hall and Cheyney Court bringing you out along the River Itchen flowing beside the backs of the Cathedral and along the gentle water meadows.
If you have time to stay for a tipple, the Wykeham Arms, is a quaint and polite pub filled with all the olde England charm, that quite sums up this characterful town.
