Produced by Ted Garvin, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
WINCHESTER
[Illustration: THE CLOSE GATE]
WINCHESTER
Described by Sidney Heath
Pictured by E.W. Haslehust
[Illustration]
BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED
LONDON GLASGOW AND BOMBAY
1911
* * * * *
_Advertisement_
+Beautiful England+
_Volumes Ready_
OXFORD
THE ENGLISH LAKES
CANTERBURY
SHAKESPEARE-LAND
THE THAMES
WINDSOR CASTLE
CAMBRIDGE
NORWICH AND THE BROADS
THE HEART OF WESSEX
THE PEAK DISTRICT
THE CORNISH RIVIERA
DICKENS-LAND
WINCHESTER
THE ISLE OF WIGHT
CHESTER AND THE DEE
YORK
_Uniform with this Series_
+Beautiful Ireland+
LEINSTER
ULSTER
MUNSTER
CONNAUGHT
* * * * *
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Close Gate _Frontispiece_
The City Bridge
Winchester Cathedral from the Deanery Gardens
Wykeham's Chantry
The Butter Cross
Entrance to the Deanery
Winchester College: The Outer Gateway from "Arcadia"
The Cloisters, Winchester College
Ruins of Wolvesey Castle
Beaufort Tower and Ambulatory, St. Cross
St. Cross from the Meadows
The Brethren's Hall, St. Cross
Plan of Winchester Cathedral
[Illustration]
WINCHESTER
Few of our English cities are more strikingly situated than the once
royal city of Winchester, which lies on the slopes and along the bed of
a chalk valley watered by the River Itchen. The greater part of the
present city is situated on the right bank of the river, while the best
general view of it is justly considered to be that obtained by looking
across the Vale of Chilcomb, from the road to Portsmouth. Of the Itchen
valley, with its rich meadows and tranquil stream, William Cobbett was
an enthusiastic admirer. "There are few spots in England", he exclaims,
"more fertile, or more pleasant, none, I believe, more healthy. The
fertility of this vale and of the surrounding country is best proved by
the fact that, besides the town of Alresford, and that of Southampton,
there are seventeen villages, each having its parish church, upon its
borders. When we consider these things, we are not surprised that a spot
situated about halfway down this vale should have been chosen for the
building of a city, or that that city should have been for a great
number of years the place of residence for the kings of England."
To-day the beautiful river winds in and out of the ancient streets, and
among the meadow lands, much as it did when Cobbett penned his _Rural
Rides_, although many charming examples of domestic architecture, which
then graced what was probably the most attractive High Street in
England, have been demolished or restored beyond recognition. As it
flows through the city proper, the river is divided up into a number of
small streams abounding in trout; but after a brief course these
rivulets unite just below the city, from whence the waterway is said to
be navigable all the way to Southampton. The bridge at the foot of the
High Street marks the former limit of the navigability of the river, and
is the reputed site of the legend concerning St. Swithun and the old
woman to whom the saint restored her eggs.
Before the advent of the railway, that great destroyer of our ancient
waterways, the Itchen was crowded with barges making their way from the
maritime port to the inland city; for, like so many of our old British
settlements, the site of Winchester was determined by the natural
conditions of the land which could be utilized for the purposes of
defence. Although every lock on the Itchen is now in ruins or choked by
weeds, and the last of its fleet of brown-sailed barges is derelict,
this is essentially a city whose origin goes back to the days when those
who, coming cautiously up from Southampton Water, reached at length the
practical part of the valley, where they built their stronghold under
the shelter of the downs, yet within easy reach of the sea. It was by
means of barges that much of the stone was brought for the building of
the numerous churches and monastic buildings. This was brought from the
Binstead Quarries in the Isle of Wight, from the Purbeck Quarries in
Dorset, and possibly from Portland as well.
There is ample evidence that Winchester was a British city (Caer-Gwent),
and the Venta Belgarum of Roman days, when it was connected by roads
with the other Roman cities of Andover, Silchester, Porchester, and
Salisbury. With the taking of the town by the Saxons in 495 it became
known as Wintanceastre, and here, after the final subjection of the
Britons, the capital of Wessex was established. If the claim of
Canterbury to be the "Mother City" of the Anglo-Saxon race be granted,
few will deny to Winchester the honour of being her eldest and her
fairest daughter. A royal city was this when Birinus, the apostle of
Wessex, came hither in 634, on his way to the Oxfordshire Dorchester, to
baptize the King of the West Saxons; and in 679 the episcopal see was
established, a cathedral built, and a monastic house attached to it. It
was from Wintanceastre that Egbert sent forth the decree which gave the
name of Anglia to his kingdom; and here, by the tranquil waters of the
Itchen, Alfred (with his friend, adviser, and tutor, St. Swithun),
Athelstan, and Canute held their Courts, and directed their policies.
It was during the reign of Athelstan that the redoubtable Guy, Earl of
Warwick, returning to England in the garb of a palmer from a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land, found the Danes besieging Winchester in great force,
and King Athelstan unable to find a champion willing to meet the Danish
giant, Colbrand, in order to decide the issue by single combat. The
Earl, retaining his disguise as a palmer, begged the king to let him
appear as the English champion.
[Illustration: THE CITY BRIDGE]
This singular combat, which was to decide the fate of the city,
commenced by Guy breaking his spear on the giant's shield, and the Dane
cutting the head off the Earl's horse. Guy then fought on foot, and,
beating the club out of his opponent's hand, cut off his arm. So the
duel waged until night, when the Dane, faint from loss of blood, fell
to the ground, and his head was cut off by the English champion. Having
settled the affair to the honour of his country and his own
satisfaction, the Earl made himself known to the King, under an oath of
secrecy, and returned thanks in the cathedral for his victory. He then
retired to a hermitage beside the Avon, and passed the remainder of his
life in the cave which still bears his name, and probably contains his
bones.
Several modern antiquaries are very sceptical about the whole story, and
labour hard to prove that Guy was a mythical figure, and his deeds
nothing but legendary lore. There is always some truth in these old
legends, in spite of the frills and embellishments added by the later
chroniclers, and the history of our land would be poor reading indeed if
we banished the romantic legends merely because they are not confirmed
by such dry-as-dust evidence as alone will satisfy a certain section of
scientific compilers, whose minds can perceive neither truth nor beauty
underlying ancient legends and traditions. The fact that they cannot be
proved to have happened is more than half their charm, and our garden of
romance, with its beautiful flowers of chivalry, is infinitely better to
live with than the dry and parched fields given over to the cultivation
of nothing but facts.
The defeat of the Danish giant is said to have been achieved in a
meadow to the north of the city, named from that occurrence "Danemark
Mead"; and we are told also that the Dane's sword was to be seen in the
Cathedral treasury down to the reign of James I. Be this as it may, we
do know that in the eighth year of Edward I a writ of right was brought
by the King against the Abbot of Hyde, to recover land usurped in the
north suburb of the city, called "Denemarche", and judgment was given
for the crown.
The appearance of the city in Saxon days has been described thus by Dean
Kitchin: "The three Minsters, which filled up the south-eastern corner
of the city, were for long the finest group of churches and dwellings in
all England. Wolvesey Palace, at once the school, the court of justice,
and the royal dwelling place, formed the bulwark against the dreaded
invasions of the Dane; inwards from Wolvesey precincts came the strong
enclosure of St. Swithun's Convent, a second fortress, which protected
the church, and behind both, sheltered by their strong walls and by the
river and the marshlands to the north, were the growing buildings of the
Nuns' Minster, and the new Minster. And up the rising towards the west,
on either side of the ancient Roman road from the eastward gate of the
city, the houses of the citizens began to cluster into a street, with
here and there a stone-built dwelling, and the rest made of that 'wattle
and dab' construction, of which from time to time examples are still
laid bare in the city."
Although many historical persons flit across the scene throughout the
centuries, the personal associations of Winchester are dominated by the
outstanding figures of Alfred, St. Swithun, and the great clerical
craftsman, William of Wykeham, the builder of much of the cathedral, and
the founder of St. Mary's College, Winchester, and New College,
Oxford--the former of which, although of later foundation, was intended
as a stepping-stone for the latter.
With the Norman Conquest, and the rapid rise of Westminster, the days of
Winchester as the seat of government were numbered, although it was much
favoured by the early Norman kings, possibly owing to its proximity to
such hunting grounds as the New Forest Cranborne Chase (where King
John's hunting lodge still stands), and the Royal Warren of Purbeck.
William I had his great palace near the cathedral, and it was to
Winchester that the body of William Rufus was brought on a cart, after
his ill-fated death in the New Forest.
Then the Domesday Book--if not compiled at Winchester--was kept there
for many years, when it was called "The Book of Winton". In the seventh
year of Henry II a charge appears in the Pipe Roll for conveying the
"arca", in which the book was kept, from Winchester to London.
There is naturally much in the life-history of St. Swithun that is
incapable of proof. He was possibly born in the neighbourhood of
Winchester about the year 800. He became a monk of the old abbey, and
rose to be head of the community, when he gained the favour of King
Egbert, who entrusted him with the education of his son Ethelwolf. There
is an authentic charter granted by Egbert in 838, and bearing the
signatures of Elmstan, _episcopus_, and Swithunus, _diaconus_. On the
death of Elmstan, in 852, Swithun was appointed his successor in the
see, when, in addition to erecting several churches, and building a
stone bridge over the Itchen, he appears to have enlarged and beautified
the Saxon cathedral built by Kynewalch when Winchester became the seat
of a bishopric in 679. The site of this Saxon church is considered to
have been a little to the north of the present cathedral, which is a
Norman building commenced by Walkelin a few years after the Conquest.
St. Swithun is best known to-day in his capacity of weather prophet. In
his humility he is said to have desired to be buried outside the church,
so that the foot of the passer-by, and the rainwater from the eaves,
could fall upon his grave; and here his body lay for more than a
century. When his remains were eventually translated, a chapel was
erected over the site of his grave at the north-east corner of the
church, and faint traces of this building may still be seen. King Edgar
provided the richly jewelled shrine into which the relics of the saint
were translated by St. Ethelwold, on July 15, 980, when the relics of
Birinus were enshrined at the same time, although these had already been
translated from Dorchester to Winchester by Bishop Hedda as early as the
seventh century. The shrine attracted an immense number of pilgrims
until that of Becket at Canterbury rose into prominence. The skull of
St. Swithun is said to have been taken to Canterbury by St. Elphege in
the eleventh century, and an arm of this patron saint of Winchester was
one of the most treasured possessions of Peterborough. What remained of
these much-disturbed relics were re-translated by Bishop Walkelin from
the old to the new cathedral, but in 1241 the shrine was broken by the
vane of the tower falling through the roof.
At the Reformation the shrine was destroyed, as is recorded in the
commissioners' letter, dated September 21, 1538:--
"About three o'clock this Saturday morning, we made an end of the
shrine here at Winchester. There was no gold, nor ring, nor true
stone about it, but all great counterfeits; but the silver alone
will amount to 2000 marks."
The popular tradition regarding St. Swithun's Day, July 15, is to the
effect that, as it rains or is fair on this day, the ensuing forty days
will be either wet or dry.
"St. Swithun's Day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain:
St. Swithun's Day, if thou be fair,
For forty days 't will rain nae mair."
The tradition is said to be due to the saintly request being
disregarded, with the result that, when his remains were about to be
translated, a heavy rain burst forth, and continued without ceasing for
the forty succeeding days. This was interpreted as a divine warning, so
that, instead of disturbing the saintly bones, a chapel was erected over
them. As a matter of fact, Professor Earle and other authorities assure
us that the legend is fictitious, and that the translation was attended
by the utmost éclat and success, and blessed with fine weather.
[Illustration: WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL FROM THE DEANERY GARDENS]
Foreign pilgrims coming from Normandy and Brittany, on their way to the
shrine of St. Swithun, or to that of St. Thomas of Canterbury, would
land, many of them, at Southampton, and journey to Winchester, there
to await other bands of pilgrims bound for the great Kentish shrine.
This was the route taken by Henry II when he did penance before the tomb
of the murdered Becket, in July, 1174. Although clearly seen in the wold
of Surrey and the weald of Kent at the present time, it must be
confessed that but faint traces of the Pilgrims' Way remain in
Hampshire, although early chroniclers speak of an old road that led
direct from Winchester to Canterbury. The great concourse of pilgrims to
St. Swithun's shrine caused Bishop Lucy to enlarge much of the church,
and in the reign of the first Edward the building still known as the
Strangers' Hall was erected by the monks of St. Swithun for the poorer
class of pilgrims, who here found food and shelter for the night. On
their departure they repaired to the doors of the Prior's lodging--the
three beautiful arches of which now form the entrance to the
Deanery--where they were given alms and fragments of food to sustain
them on their journey.
The associations of Alfred with this ancient Wessex capital are many and
various. He founded the famous Abbey of Hyde, situated without the city
gates, known for long as the New Minster, and first removed from its
original site near the cathedral in the twelfth century. That Alfred's
remains were laid to rest somewhere within, or just without, the walls
is beyond question, although the exact spot has not yet been
definitely located. When the Benedictine monks of Hyde obtained a
charter from Henry I in 1110, giving them leave to erect a new convent
and church in the green meadows outside the north gate, they are said to
have taken to their new home the wonder-working shrine of St. Josse, the
silver cross given by Canute, and the bones of Alfred.
At the Reformation, Thomas Wriothesley wrote to Cromwell saying:--
"We intend both at Hyde and St. Mary to sweep away all the rotten
bones that be called relics; which we may not omit, lest it be
thought we came more for the treasure than for the avoiding of th'
abomination of idolatry".
So the resting-place of the noblest of English kings remains unknown;
but a passing antiquary is said to have carried off a stone marked with
the words, "ÆLFRED REX, DCCCLXXXI", and this stone may still be seen at
Corby Castle in Cumberland.
Of Hyde Abbey nothing but an old gateway near St. Bartholomew's Church,
and some slight fragments of wall, remain; but a considerable portion
was standing until the ruins were pulled down to provide the site for a
new Bridewell, which has vanished in its turn. The property has now come
into the hands of the Corporation, and scientific excavations have been
commenced. Strong hopes are entertained that Alfred's tomb may be
found, although the iconoclasts of the Reformation and the Magistrates
of later days have made the task a difficult, if not an impossible one.
In 1901 Alfred's thousandth anniversary was celebrated at Winchester,
and on September 20 of that year Lord Rosebery unveiled Hamo
Thorneycroft's magnificent bronze statue, standing in the Broadway, and
bearing on its granite pedestal the single word, eloquent in its
simplicity:--
AELFRED.
Interesting and important as are the associations of Alfred and St.
Swithun with this ancient capital of Wessex, the _genius loci_ is
William of Wykeham, one of the most remarkable men the world has ever
produced. The more we study his life and character the more we are
amazed at the versatile nature of his splendid gifts. Born, like Wolsey,
the only other clerical architect with whom he can be compared, of
humble parents, in the sleepy little village of Wickham, in the autumn
of 1324, he early attracted the attention of Sir John Scures, the lord
of the manor of Wickham, and Constable of Winchester Castle. By Sir
John's influence he became a scholar at the Priory School, the "Great
Grammar School of Winchester", then situated just outside the west wall
of the priory enclosure. Taught by the brethren of St. Swithun's, he
was eventually recommended to Bishop Edington, who appears to have
appreciated the great talent for architecture shown by young Wykeham.
Edington himself was no mean builder, and he had already begun to
rebuild the west front of the cathedral, and to transform the nave from
the Norman to the Perpendicular style, a transformation that was to be
completed by Wykeham when he succeeded his old master in the episcopacy.
In Wykeham's twenty-third year Edward III came to Winchester, and he,
having heard of the clever young architect, wished to test his skill in
the warfare then being waged against Scotland and France, and
particularly in the new fortifications of Calais. On taking service with
the King, plain William Wykeham became Sir William de Wykeham, and as
Surveyor of Works he superintended such buildings as St. Stephen's
Chapel, Westminster, and the castles of Dover and Queensborough. In 1356
he was in charge of Windsor Castle, which, as his birthplace, Edward
wished to beautify by many additions. It has been said that the Round
Tower Wykeham built at Windsor made the fortune of its designer. We now
find Wykeham Warden of all the royal castles, and sub-dean of the church
of St. Martins-le-Grand, on the site of which is the General Post
Office; and as a public notary he was present at the signing of the
Treaty of Bretigny.
Possibly owing to the dearth of clergy caused by the Black Death,
Wykeham, after the laying-on of hands by his old master, Bishop
Edington, became an acolyte in the December of 1361, a sub-deacon in the
March following, and priest in the June of 1362. A few years later, when
Edington was laid to rest within his cathedral, a sharp controversy
arose between the King and the Pope as to who should succeed. The
differences, which need not be discussed here, being eventually settled
to the satisfaction of both parties, Wykeham was offered the vacant see,
when he said to the King:
"Sire, I am unworthy, but wherein I am wanting myself, that will I
supply by a brood of more scholars than all the prelates of England
ever showed".
And how worthily he fulfilled his promise is a matter of history.
To quote the authors of _Historic Winchester_:
"There was a great stir in the old city when the day of Wykeham's
enthronement arrived. It was the 9th of July, and the town would be
looking especially beautiful in its bower of trees; an outrider had
announced the bishop before he entered the city, probably by the
north gate, and either here or at the entrance to the close he was
met by the Archdeacon of Northampton, William Athey by name, who
was commissioned to enthrone him: having saluted, the Archdeacon
alighted from his palfrey, which according to the custom at that
time was with all its trappings taken possession of by this
ecclesiastic.... The bishop's robing most probably took place at
the priory close by, from whence the procession, forming in the
cloisters under the direction of Hugo de Basyng, prior of St.
Swithun's, would pass to the west door, where it would be joined by
the heads of the other monasteries in and near Winchester--Thomas
de Pechy, Abbot of Hyde, holding highest rank amongst them. Next
would follow long lines of monks clad in their robes of brown,
black, white, or grey, according to their order, and then many a
layman, gathered in from the country round to honour both Church
and State on this occasion. The great procession, gorgeous with
embroidered cope and many a rich vestment, with episcopal staff and
crozier both of prior and abbot carried aloft, must have formed an
imposing spectacle as it filed up the long nave of the cathedral,
thronged, doubtless, to overflowing by many citizens--for unusual
interest would be evinced by Winchester in this enthronement of one
long known to them, now Chancellor of England and certainly, next
to the King and Archbishop, the greatest man in the country."
As bishop, Wykeham found plenty to do, apart from his ecclesiastical
duties, in repairing his various palaces, and in housing the
predecessors of his Winchester scholars in a house on St. Giles's Hill,
until such time as he could give them fitting buildings and a chapel of
their own. But before Wykeham could see his schemes take an
architectural form, he was to suffer the loss of royal favour owing to
the death of the Black Prince and the rise into power of his enemy, John
of Gaunt. The bishop was charged with the misappropriation of a small
sum of money, and, judgment being given against him, the temporalities
of the see of Winchester were seized, and he was forbidden to come
within twenty miles of the Court. He retired to Waverley Abbey, of which
some picturesque ruins remain, near Farnham; and although on the King's
jubilee pardon was granted to all offenders, a special exception was
made in the case of "Sire William de Wykeham".
[Illustration: WYKEHAM'S CHANTRY]
This was more than the heads of the Church could stand, especially as
the original charge was an unjust one; so at the ensuing meeting of
Convocation, Courtenay, then Bishop of London, declared boldly that
unless their favourite bishop was reinstated in office, no money would
be forthcoming from the clergy. In less than a month the pressing need
of funds caused the King to send a messenger to Waverley and beg Wykeham
to return to his house at Southwark. This was the first step, which,
however, did not mean an immediate return to the temporalities, as these
had been settled on the youthful heir apparent, Richard; but the people
took up Wykeham's cause, and on June 18, 1377, in the presence of the
little Richard, his uncle, and the King's council, Wykeham promised to
fit out three galleys for sea, in return for the temporalities of
Winchester. Two days later Edward III died, forsaken by his mistress,
Alice Perrers, and estranged from the one man who had served him so long
and so faithfully.
The architectural genius of Wykeham as exhibited at St. Mary's College
and the cathedral at Winchester, and at New College, Oxford, originally
founded as "St. Maries' College of Winchester at Oxenford", marks a very
decided epoch in the development of English architecture. His works, in
an architectural style found nowhere but in England, are the outcome of
a mind free from triviality, and full of common sense. His buildings are
admirably suited to their purpose, and at first sight they appear to be
so simple in design that it has been suggested that Wykeham cared more
for the constructive than the artistic side of building. It is true that
he considered sound construction and good proportions of greater
importance than a profusion of detail, yet such ornament as is found in
his work is highly effective and most carefully studied. To this
bishop-architect we undoubtedly owe much of the dignity and simplicity
which mark the Early Perpendicular buildings, qualities which make the
style such a contrast to the exuberance of that which immediately
preceded it, or the over-elaboration of the Tudor buildings that
followed it.
With few exceptions, practically the whole of Wykeham's work, both here
and at Oxford, remains much as he left it; so that, good bishop, wise
administrator, generous founder, and pioneer educationist though he was,
it is mainly as a munificent builder and architectural genius that his
fame has lived in the past, and will continue to live in the future.
Here for the moment we must leave the great prelate of Winchester and
begin our perambulation of the city that received him as a youth,
welcomed him as a bishop, mourned him when dead, and that still bears on
the long nave of its cathedral, and on its famous college, the impress
of his manly, robust, and essentially English mind.
By way of a footpath leading from the London and South-Western Railway
station, the upper part of the famous High Street can be reached,
although the thoroughfare now possesses but few features of interest
until we arrive at the old West Gate, a reminder, if such were needed,
that Winchester was a heavily fortified and strongly walled city. On the
right is Castle Hill, the site of the ancient castle wherein Stigand,
Archbishop of Canterbury, was imprisoned and Matilda besieged, and from
whose courtyard William Rufus set out on the hunting expedition to the
New Forest which was attended by such fatal consequences. All that now
remains of this stronghold is the fine old hall built by Henry III.
For some time this apartment was used as the County Hall, and here Judge
Jeffreys opened his Bloody Assize before proceeding to Dorchester,
Exeter, and Taunton. Alice Lisle was the widow of John Lisle, who had
been Master of St. Cross Hospital, and member for Winchester in the Long
Parliament. Although the men of Hampshire had taken no part in
Monmouth's Rebellion, many of the fugitives had fled thither, and two of
them, John Hickes, a Non-conformist divine, and Richard Nelthorpe, a
lawyer, found refuge in the house of Alice Lisle, where they were
eventually discovered. At her trial, Alice Lisle stated briefly that,
although she knew Hickes to be in trouble, she was quite ignorant of the
fact that he had participated in the rebellion. When the jury said they
doubted if the charge had been made out, Jeffreys was furious, and after
another long consultation they returned a verdict of "Guilty". The next
morning the judge pronounced sentence, and ordered the prisoner to be
_burned alive_ that same afternoon. When remonstrances had poured in
from all quarters, Jeffreys consented to the execution being postponed
for five days; and the sentence was eventually commuted from burning to
hanging. So the first victim of Monmouth's ill-fated rebellion was
hanged on a scaffold in the market-place of Winchester.
A striking object hanging at one end of the hall is the top of the
reputed Round Table of King Arthur, painted in radiating white and green
sections, with a portrait of the famous king inset, crowned and robed,
and the Tudor rose in the centre, while around the circumference are
the names of the knights in old black-letter characters. Doubtful though
it is that the table is the actual one that figures in the Arthurian
legends, yet it is certainly of great antiquity, and has been frequently
referred to by more than one writer of mediaeval days. It has been
conjectured that it may be nothing more than the wheel of fortune which
Henry III commanded to be made for the castle. In later years another
palace was started here by Charles II, the only portion that was
completed being now used as barracks.
Beyond the West Gate is an obelisk, set up in commemoration of a
visitation of the Plague in 1669, when the country people brought their
produce and left it outside the gate to be taken in by the city
dwellers, who deposited the money for the goods in bowls of vinegar,
whence it was abstracted by pincers, to avoid infection. The stone on
which the exchanges were made is incorporated in the base of the
obelisk.
The West Gate is the only one that remains of the principal entrances to
the city, as King's Gate, with the little church of St. Swithun perched
on top, was of secondary importance. This West Gate escaped the fate
that has overtaken so many of our old city gates owing to its having
been used for some time as a smoking room for the adjacent hotel. This
apartment above the crown of the gateway arch is, like that over the
West Gate of Canterbury, used for the purposes of a museum, wherein are
deposited such interesting relics as the Winchester bushel, cloth
measures, and ancient instruments of punishment. At one time the room
was used as a prison, and the walls are covered with names or marks made
by those who were incarcerated here.
The gate is of fourteenth-century date, the two panels with armorial
bearings seen on the western side of the archway being later insertions.
Through the gateway a delightful view is obtained of the picturesque
High Street, with many a high-pitched gable rising above the masses of
irregular architecture; while an ancient clock on a wooden bracket juts
out from the old Queen Anne Guildhall, which has a statue of Her Majesty
over the entrance, the Curfew Tower rising on one side of the building.
A new Guildhall of greater architectural pretensions has been erected in
the Broadway, the original one being now used as a shop.
[Illustration: THE BUTTER CROSS]
From the West Gate the High Street slopes down to the Itchen. On the
right stands the old Butter Cross, in rather a cramped position. Two
reasons have been given for its name: one, that during Lent, those
wishing to eat butter could do so by consuming it by the cross; the
other, and more probable, explanation is that here came farmers wishing
to dispose of their butter, which they exposed for sale on the steps
of the cross. The structure is of fifteenth-century date, but has been
much restored, the only original figure on it being that of St.
Amphibalus. Just beside the cross is the interesting little opening that
leads into the Close, and in which is the entrance to St. Lawrence
Church, of which nothing is visible from this point but the doorway, and
the tower rising above the surrounding houses. This church has been said
to be the Mother Church of the diocese of Winchester, an idea that may
have owed its origin to the fact that before proceeding to the Cathedral
to be enthroned the bishops designate enter this ancient church to robe
and "ring themselves in". Only the other day, May 6, 1911, Dr. Talbot
followed this old custom, and the people listened eagerly for the number
of rings, as these are supposed to denote the number of years the bishop
will be at the head of the diocese. It may be of interest to chronicle
that Dr. Talbot rang nine times.
Near the church at one time was an open space called the Square, where
were situated the Pillory and Whipping Post. The palace of William I is
said to have occupied this site, and St. Lawrence's Church may possibly
have been the private chapel of the royal residence. A fragment of
Norman masonry gives a certain amount of probability to the
supposition, while at the beginning of last century some workmen
excavating in Market Street came across the foundations of an ancient
tower, of great thickness and strength. The present arched and narrow
entrance from High Street leads to the fine avenue of limes that forms
the principal approach to the west front of the Cathedral, begun by
Edington _circa_ 1360, the severe simplicity of which has been much
criticized, Ruskin assailing it furiously in the _Stones of Venice_. On
the apex of the gable is a canopied niche containing a statue of
Wykeham.
The present edifice is thought to stand approximately on the site of the
earlier Saxon church restored by Ethelwold in 980, in which Queen Emma
underwent the "fiery ordeal" by walking blindfold and barefooted over
nine red-hot plough-shares, thus proving her innocence of the charges
brought against her, and furnishing her accusers with an example of what
female chastity is able to accomplish. The main portion of the structure
as seen to-day was begun by Bishop Walkelin about 1079, and completed
some fourteen years later. It is the longest of English churches,
measuring externally 566 feet, and internally 562-1/2 feet, being a few
feet longer than St. Alban's, which has the same plan; although we must
remember that when the nave of Winchester terminated at the west in two
large towers the whole mass was 40 feet longer than at present.
The vista of the whole block of masonry, with its stumpy tower and
heavily buttressed walls, conveys the idea of immense strength rather
than of gracefulness; while its situation at the bottom of a hill, and
near the bank of the river, is one of great charm.
It is when the nave is entered that the full beauty and vast proportions
of the Norman church are revealed, for this is in essence a Norman
building encased with Perpendicular details and additions. As Wykeham's
alterations were merely added to the original piers, the stateliness of
the whole remains. Full credit, of course, must be given to Wykeham for
the wonderful skill he showed in this work of transformation, and in
removing the heavy triforium, although the grandeur of the nave as a
whole is due to the combined work of Walkelin and Wykeham. This
alteration of styles in the nave was begun by Edington, continued by
Wykeham, and completed by his successors in the see--Cardinal Beaufort
and Bishop Waynflete--who built the stone vaulting of the roof. The
tower at the intersection of the transepts is the second of its kind,
the first, built by Walkelin, having fallen in 1107, owing, says
tradition, to the wicked Red King having been buried beneath it. Of its
rebuilding there are no records.
So many detailed architectural histories of the building have appeared
that its principal features must be familiar to every lover of our
national architecture. There are, however, one or two features about
this cathedral that should be noted. Apart from its great length, which
is greater than any church in the world, with the exception of St.
Peter's at Rome, it is remarkable for its parclose screens, with the
mortuary chests upon them; and for the beauty and number of its
chantries, in which it is richer than any other English cathedral. They
are said to have been saved from destruction during the Civil War by the
Parliamentary colonel, Fiennes, an old Wykehamist; and certain
historians describe the dramatic incident of the colonel standing with
drawn sword to protect the chantry of the founder of his Alma Mater from
the iconoclastic tendencies of his troopers. The chantries number seven,
and were built as chapels by bishops for their last resting-places.
Within these chantries are the tombs of Edington, Wykeham, Waynflete,
Beaufort, Gardiner, Langton, and Fox, all of whom were bishops of the
diocese. Fox's chantry was carefully restored by Corpus Christi College,
Oxford; and that of Waynflete by Magdalen College, as a mark of
reverence and esteem for the memory of their respective founders.
The first to be seen on entering the nave from the west is that of
Wykeham, whose faith in the solidity of Norman building was so great
that he did not hesitate to cut away more than a third of the two nave
pillars between which it is placed. Within the chapel, said to have been
built on the site of an altar to the Virgin, is the effigy of the
bishop-builder, with flesh and robes coloured "proper", as the heralds
say; and at his feet are the figures of his three favourite monks, to
whom he left an endowment for the celebration of three masses daily in
his chantry, while each was to receive one penny a day from the prior.
The effigy lies on an altar tomb, in episcopal attire, the head-pillow
supported by two angels. Five bays farther on is Edington's chantry, but
without effigy, as also are those of Fox and Langton. Of the seven
chantries those of Fox and Beaufort are usually considered the most
beautiful.
The proud Cardinal Beaufort, founder of the "Almshouse of Noble Poverty"
at St. Cross, is represented by Shakespeare as dying in despair:
"Lord Cardinal, if thou think'st on Heaven's bliss
Hold up thy hand: make signal of thy hope.
He dies, and makes no sign!"
Dean Kitchin writes: "One cannot look at his effigy, as it lies in his
stately chantry, without noting the powerful and selfish characteristics
of his face, and especially the nose, large, curved, and money-loving.
The sums Beaufort had at his disposal were so large that he was the
Rothschild of his day. More than once he lent his royal masters enough
money to carry them through their expeditions."
The mortuary chests are certainly among the most interesting things
possessed by any English cathedral. They are supposed to contain the
bones of Kings Eadulph, Kinegils, Kenulf, Egbert, Canute, Rufus, Edmund,
Edred, Queen Emma, and Bishops Wina and Alwyn. They no doubt got much
mixed up when removed from the crypt by Henry de Blois, and again when
the chests were broken open by the Parliamentarians, so that a detailed
identification has been made impossible. It is now generally
acknowledged that the bones of Rufus are in one of these chests, and
that the so-called Rufus tomb in the retro-choir is the burial place of
some great ecclesiastic. Such at any rate is the opinion of Dean
Kitchin, who has done so much to elucidate the past history of the city
and its Cathedral.
When one of these boxes was taken recently out of its enclosing chest
and examined, it was found to have a roof something like a low gable,
which was decorated with painting about a century later than the time of
de Blois. On the outside appeared the words in Latin: "Here are together
the bones of King Kinegils and of Ethelwolf". Four of the Italian
chests that held the inner boxes were the gift of Bishop Fox. The
other chests have revealed five complete sets of human bones, and among
the remains in another were the bones of a female, possibly those of
Queen Emma.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE DEANERY]
The visitor will not fail to have pointed out to him by the
well-informed vergers the innumerable features of interest, such as the
Lady Chapel, the retro-choir, the Holy Hole where the relics were kept,
the black oak stalls of the choir, the fine pulpit given by Prior
Silkstede, and the magnificent screen begun by Beaufort and completed by
Fox. The monuments, apart from those contained in the chantries, are
many, and include one surmounted by a beautifully wrought cross-legged
effigy, which has not yet been identified. There are memorials or tombs
of James I and Charles I, by le Suer, who wrought the statue of the
latter at Charing Cross; Dr. Warton, Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and
headmaster of Winchester; Jane Austen; and William Unwin, the intimate
friend of Cowper. A flat stone, with an inscription by his
brother-in-law, Ken, marks the resting-place of Izaak Walton, "whose
book", a modern writer tells us, "makes the reader forget for the time
the cruelty of his sport".
The curiously carved font, whereon are depicted symbolical figures and
incidents from the legendary life of St. Nicholas of Myra, bears much
similarity to three others found in Hampshire--at St. Michaels',
Southampton; East Meon; and St. Mary Bourne. They are all of the same
era, and possibly the work of the same hand, being among the most
interesting of our Norman fonts. The material of which they are made has
never been settled, some authorities defining it as Tournai marble,
others as basalt, and yet others as nothing more than slate.
The roll of bishops is a remarkable one, and the see has had eleven who
were also Lord Chancellors, the last being Wolsey in 1529.
As we have seen, Winchester continued in favour with the reigning houses
long after it had ceased to be a royal residence. Here Henry I was
married to the Saxon Matilda, and here in the closing years of his life
the aged Wykeham married Henry IV and Joan of Navarre; and here, too,
came Philip of Spain and Henry VIII's sad daughter, Mary of England, to
be wedded before the high altar, the chair on which the royal bride sat
being still shown to visitors.
For the architectural student the plan of the cathedral is not the least
interesting feature of the building, for although it has an ambulatory
which is semicircular internally, the plan is in other respects rather
exceptional. It is what architects call a periapsidal plan, meaning that
its eastern termination contains a processional aisle or ambulatory,
designed mainly for the purpose of allowing a procession to pass round
the high altar without entering the presbytery. In the crypt of
Winchester Cathedral the plan of the early Norman church may be seen
_sui generis_. A rather exceptional feature is that the eastern
ambulatory is semicircular within but rectangular without, although the
long chapel that projects from this ambulatory has an apsidal, not a
rectangular, termination.
To the receptive mind all our ancient cathedrals, and a few of our
modern ones, possess a subtle atmosphere of their own, indescribable but
plainly felt, both within and without their walls. In such an atmosphere
we lose sight of the Winchester of to-day. It becomes ancient,
ecclesiastical, historical, learned, and romantic. Here we return in
imagination to the scenes of the Middle Ages, when love was attested by
chivalrous deeds of arms done in honour of bright eyes, and poetry
sounded its lyre in praise of him who had been most devoted to his
Church, most faithful to his mistress, and most loyal to his king. As a
whole, this Cathedral of Winchester is a vast building, simple almost to
a fault, yet one that possesses a solemn repose unspeakably restful to
mind and spirit--a sense of undisturbed harmony and refined yet massive
simplicity. Towards eventide the shadows of the turrets and pinnacles
creep, day by day, over the surrounding bands of greensward, their cool
greys advancing inch by inch until they reach the spacious pavements,
whereon they cast the symbols of our Christian faith in ruddy
trefoil-headed slants of glory.
Whatever else is omitted from the history of the Cathedral, mention must
be made of the valiant efforts that have been and are still being made
to preserve the stability of the structure. A few years ago the east end
showed signs of subsidence, and ominous cracks appeared in the north
transept, a part of the old Norman church. An examination of the fabric
proved that herculean tasks were essential to save this portion of the
edifice. It was agreed that only by extensive underpinning could the
work be accomplished. It has been very costly, and funds are most
urgently needed to complete the preservation, not only of the eastern
end, but of the whole Cathedral. The cradle of woodwork erected to give
temporary support to the eastern superstructure cost over a thousand
pounds to fix, and up to date many thousands of pounds have been spent
on the work. It was not until these temporary supports had been fixed
and excavations begun that the magnitude of the task was fully revealed.
The Cathedral was found to have been built on an old "water-bed" having
a foundation of peat, the distance between the ground level and the
firm gravel beneath the peat being 27 feet. The only hope of saving the
east end was to remove the peat and fill in the spaces with concrete and
cement. With the removal of the peat, however, there was so great an
influx of water that pumping was of no avail. Two of the best divers in
the kingdom were then procured, and by working on their backs and sides
in 15 feet of muddy water they succeeded in laying the concrete bed.
Owing to the same cause, the remainder of the structure will, sooner or
later, have to be treated in the same way, and the thorough restoration
of the west front cannot be long postponed. The difficulty of the work
is realized when we consider that it takes a whole month to underpin 4
feet of foundation. Owing to the cramped space and the darkness three
weeks are spent in excavation; after which the divers require a week to
place the concrete and cement in position. That so national a heritage
will be saved, for the delight of our own and the instruction of future
generations, must be the wish of all true lovers of the great building
achievements of the past.
The cathedral precincts are in excellent keeping with the repose and
beauty of the building to which they form the court, and are full of
historical memories. The palace of the Conqueror reached from Great
Minster Street to Market Street, from High Street to the Square; and
eastwards rose the "New Minster", and the Nuns' Abbey of St. Mary.
To-day the greater part of the Close, with the Deanery and the various
canonical residences, lies on the south side. Only a few slight
fragments remain of the cloisters, the destruction of which could not
have been considered possible by Wykeham. They were taken down by Bishop
Horne in the reign of Elizabeth. The short row of Norman arches seen
from the Close belonged to the old Chapter House, which is said to have
been pulled down for the sake of its lead. The Deanery was the ancient
house of the Priors, of which it contains many interesting memorials.
Here are the Great Hall, now subdivided, and the Hospitium, used as
stables. The Deanery entrance has three pointed arches, beneath which,
as we have stated, the poor pilgrims and other wayfarers received food
and alms. On his numerous visits to Winchester, Charles II used to lodge
at the Deanery, until Prebendary Ken (afterwards Bishop of Bath and
Wells) refused to allow Nell Gwynne to enter the house, with the result
that she had to content herself with an inferior residence outside the
precincts.
Of Wykeham's "College of St. Marie", or New College, Oxford, this is not
the place to speak, especially as it has already been dealt with in the
"Oxford" volume of this "Beautiful England" series. His other
"College of St. Mary", or, as it is commonly known, Winchester College,
has a history extending far beyond that of most of our great public
schools; and Winchester was celebrated for its educational institutions
in Saxon days.
[Illustration: WINCHESTER COLLEGE: THE OUTER GATEWAY FROM "ARCADIA"]