OTHER INSTITUTIONS CONNECTED WITH THE CATHEDRAL
It is hardly possible to conclude an account of Winchester Cathedral
without briefly alluding to several places in the immediate
neighbourhood which are more or less intimately connected with the
church and its benefactors. Only four buildings, however, call for any
detailed description--Wolvesey Castle, the College, Hyde Abbey, and St
Cross.
#Wolvesey#, which is said to mean Wolf's Island, is quite close to the
east end of the cathedral. It contained at one time a regular residence
of the bishops of Winchester, the greater part of which was erected by
Henry de Blois. The remains of this castle are very ruinous, though the
outer walls and the exterior of the keep are in good condition still.
Woodward pointed out traces of a refectory with a Norman arch and
window. The building more than once underwent attacks, the earliest
being during the struggle between Stephen and Matilda, in which Henry de
Blois took a vigorous part. Finally, in 1646, Cromwell practically
destroyed it, after it had held out against him in the Royalist cause.
It served as the residence of many well-known characters in history, and
among its bishops Cardinal Beaufort died there. Mary slept at Wolvesey
Castle in 1554, before her marriage at Winchester. Bishop Morley
commenced building a modern house close by the old site, and subsequent
bishops completed it. Only the middle portion of this, with the Tudor
chapel, now remains, the southern end having been pulled down by Bishop
Brownlow North. The ruins of the castle can be seen from the top of the
cathedral tower.
On Wykeham's charter for the incorporation of his new foundation,
"Seinte Marie College of Wynchestre," is the date October 20, 1382; but
it seems that long before this date and up to the actual completion of
the #College# buildings, the bishop superintended the education of the
boys for whom his institution was founded, housing them in temporary
structures in the meantime--possibly in S. John's parish, on S. Giles'
Hill, it has been suggested. Before Wykeham's time, and indeed before
the Conquest, it appears that the monks of S. Swithun's institution had
a school at Winchester, at which no less celebrated a pupil than Alfred
the Great was brought up. We have already touched on the subject of
Wykeham's ideas on education, and the change which he brought about by
his colleges at Winchester and Oxford, and it is not necessary to go
into the subject again. The College buildings lie beyond the southern
limits of the cathedral close, on the south side of the narrow College
Street, being entered by a gateway with an ancient statue of the Virgin
in the niche over it. This door leads into the quadrangle, about which
are ranged various parts of the college. A further arch under the tower
in this court leads to a larger quadrangle, in which are the Chapel and
the refectory or Hall, a room 63 feet by 30, with a groined oak roof and
a dais at one end for the Warden and Fellows; while at the other is the
audit room, which has some fifteenth-century tapestry and an iron-bound
chest once belonging to William of Wykeham. Beneath the Hall is "Seventh
Chamber," an early schoolroom. Beyond are cloisters and more buildings,
and then the meadows which run down to the Itchen. The niches over the
second gateway contain figures of the Virgin, the Angel Gabriel, and
William of Wykeham; while the room below them is known as the election
chamber, where the annual election of scholars took place. In the inner
quadrangle the carvings over the windows should be noticed. "Over the
hall and kitchen entrance are the psaltery and bagpipe; over kitchen
window, Excess, a head vomiting; opposite a Bursar as Frugality, with
his iron-bound money-chest; over the Masters' windows are the Pedagogue,
the Listless Scholar, etc." In the Chapel, which is 93 feet long by 30
wide and 57 high, the Perpendicular windows should be noticed, and in
particular, the large east window. The glass is declared by Mr Winston
to be, with the exception of a few pieces, modern, dating from 1824,
while the "Jesse" window is "a very good copy of the old design." In the
vault Wykeham's wooden fan-tracery remains, but there has been much
change in the fittings of the chapel. The old screen has gone, and the
reredos is a restoration; the original stalls were removed as early as
1681. The tower had to be rebuilt in 1863, though the old stonework of
1470 was used where possible. At the north-east end are the sacristy and
muniment room, in which the college charters, etc., are kept. Among the
MSS., etc., kept here are certain Anglo-Saxon documents and charters of
Privileges from Richard II. to Charles II.; a table of Wykeham's
domestic expenses; a thirteenth century Vulgate in manuscript; a "Briefe
description of the Newe Founde Lande of Virginia," by Sir Walter
Raleigh; and a pedigree of Henry VI., tracing his descent from Adam. The
chief relic of Wykeham is a gold ring with a large sapphire in it. The
Cloisters are 132 feet in length on each side, and the stone roofing is
supported by rafters of Irish oak. The ground enclosed by the Cloisters
was once used for the burial of the Fellows. Among the names cut in the
walls may be seen the name of "Thos. Ken, 1646." In the square formed by
the cloisters is the Chantry Chapel, built in 1420, converted into the
library after Edward VI. had forbidden its use as a chapel, and now used
once more as a chapel for the junior scholars. A portrait of Wykeham
(the oldest on record) is shown in the east window, the glass of which
dates from 1470, and comes from Warden Thurbern's chantry in the larger
chapel. Behind the hall is "School," a detached building erected in 1687
by the Warden, Nicholas. It is now used for glee-club concerts and like
events. The western wall has on it the often-quoted inscription: _Aut
Disce Aut Discede Manet Sors Tertia Cædi_. Modern additions to the
college buildings include a library in memory of Bishop Moberly,
formerly head-master; a gymnasium, fives courts and a racquet court, and
a new infirmary. One of the most curious properties of the College is
the old painting (probably sixteenth century) of the "Trusty Servant,"
the words being ascribed to Johnson, the head-master in 1560-1571.
[Illustration: WINCHESTER COLLEGE "SCHOOL".]
[Illustration: WINCHESTER COLLEGE: THE OUTER GATEWAY]
[Illustration: WINCHESTER COLLEGE: CHANTRY CHAPEL.]
[Illustration: INSCRIPTION ON WESTERN WALL OF "SCHOOL,"
WINCHESTER COLLEGE.]
[Illustration: THE TRUSTY SERVANT.
A trusty servant's portrait would you see,
This emblematic figure well survey;
The porker's snout--not nice in diet shows;
The padlock shut--no secrets he'll disclose;
Patient the ass--his master's wrath to bear;
Swiftness in errand--the stag's feet declare;
Loaded his left hand--apt to labour saith;
The vest--his neatness; open hand--his faith;
Girt with his sword, his shield upon his arm--
Himself and master he'll protect from harm.]
[Illustration: ST CROSS FROM THE SOUTH. _Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
The remains of #Hyde Abbey# lie considerably to the north of the
cathedral, outside the old North Gate of the city, where it was erected
during the bishopric of William Giffard by Henry I. The buildings were
occupied in 1110 A.D. by the monks who were forced to leave Alfred's
"New Minster," pulled down because of its too close neighbourhood to the
cathedral. Though the foundations of the abbey still exist, little is
left of the upper part except an arched gateway with hood-mouldings and
two royal corbel-heads. This gateway is in some walls that apparently
were once part of the out-buildings of the abbey. The body of Alfred the
Great was brought hither in 1110, and must still be here, though all
traces of the tomb have now vanished utterly. The institution, which was
a very wealthy one, was not always on good terms with the cathedral
authorities, of whom it was, of course, independent. A record is kept of
a dispute between Cardinal Beaufort and the Abbot of Hyde. In the
dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. it was impossible that
the riches of Hyde Abbey could escape, and in 1538 pillage and violation
overtook it. The Royal Commissioners wrote that they intended "to sweep
away all the rotten bones that be called relices, which we may not omit,
lest it should be thought that we came more for the treasure than for
avoiding the abominations of idolatry." Probably Thomas Cromwell, to
whom they wrote, understood how far the two motives influenced them and
the king. The monastic buildings did not altogether disappear until
close on the end of last century, when the materials were devoted to
other purposes.
[Illustration: ST CROSS FROM THE QUADRANGLE. _Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
The #Hospital of St Cross#, the oldest almshouse in England, lies one
mile to the south of the town on the Southampton Road, and may be
reached from Winchester across the fields for part of the way. Situated
in the hamlet of Sparkford, it was founded originally by Bishop Henry de
Blois in 1136, on the site of a small monastery destroyed by the Danes.
The founder's wish was to give refuge to "thirteen poor men, feeble and
so reduced in strength that they can hardly or with difficulty support
themselves with another's aid"; while a meal was daily to be provided
for another hundred poor men. The Knights Hospitallers, in the person of
their Master, Raymund, were in 1151 A.D. put in charge of the
foundation. They agreed so ill, however, with the bishops of the
neighbouring cathedral that, about 1200, the Pope appointed a commission
which transferred to the bishops the right of choosing the master. The
new arrangement did not work well, for a little more than a century and
a half afterwards the master was found to be robbing his charge to such
an extent that the scandal was intolerable. William of Wykeham turning
his attention to the matter, a Papal Bull was procured ordering the use
of the revenues for the benefit of the poor. The next bishop, Cardinal
Beaufort, added to the buildings by the foundation of the "Almshouse of
Noble Poverty," for the maintenance of two priests, thirty-five
brethren, and three sisters. The master of the hospital was to be at its
head, otherwise the institutions were to be distinct; but by the middle
of the sixteenth century the hospital had practically absorbed the
almshouse. At the end of the next century, in 1696, the master and
brethren of the hospital made a public repudiation of their duties, and
commenced either to destroy the buildings or to convert them to other
than their original uses; and shortly after the southern side of
Beaufort's quadrangle was pulled down. The abuses were rectified in the
middle of the present century, and now a body of trustees, under the
control of the Charity Commissioners, has the management of the two
institutions. All the endowments of the hospital are still intact.
[Illustration: CHURCH OF ST CROSS: VIEW OF EAST END FROM NAVE.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
[Illustration: COUNTY HALL, WITH ROUND TABLE. From an Old Print.]
After one has passed through the remains of an outer court, the entrance
to the buildings is by a gatehouse known by the name of the "Beaufort
Tower." Over the groined vault of the doorway is the founder's chamber,
surmounted by an octagonal turret. Three niches exist above the exterior
or northern window, one of which has a kneeling figure of Beaufort,
while the representation of the Holy Cross, formerly in the centre, and
the figure of Henry de Blois have vanished. The niche on the inner side
used to be occupied by a statue of the Virgin, which, after surviving
the Civil War, fell about a hundred years ago. At the Porter's Lodge in
the gateway the time-honoured "dole" of beer and bread is given to
visitors. The square quadrangle on which the gate opens has the
brethren's rooms on the west (the right hand as one enters), the
ambulatory or cloister on the east, the church of St Cross at the
south-east corner, and to the right of the church a view of meadows
where the buildings were pulled down in 1789. In the centre of the grass
is a sundial. Next the Beaufort Tower at the south side is the
refectory, and beyond that the master's house. The refectory has three
two-light Perpendicular windows, a high-pitched wooden roof, and a
minstrels' gallery at the west end. It is now only used as a dining-hall
on great occasions. The master's house is thought to be the old "Hundred
Mennes Hall," but is now furnished with modern windows. The cloister on
the east side is of sixteenth-century work, paved with large red tiles;
"the roof is red-tiled," says a recent observer, "the long blank wall
faced with rough-cast of a warm yellowish tinge, and supported on a
range of broad and low timber arcading, which is, in its turn, supported
by a dwarf wall some three feet in height." The main feature of the
cloister is a red-brick oriel window; "reared upon two brick arches,
supported midway by an octangular pillar of the same material, and
flanked by splayed buttresses with stone quoins, the window-opening
occupies a comparatively small space, and is filled with stone mullions
and tracery of a Tudor character; the whole design proclaimed by a stone
tablet, let into the brickwork, to be the work of Bishop Compton." Above
the cloister is the infirmary, which opens into the church so as to
allow the sick to hear the service. The church, though considered by
many the finest existing example of Late and Transitional Norman, also
exhibits architecture of all periods down to Late Decorated. Commenced
by Bishop de Blois in 1171, it was not completed until the end of the
thirteenth century. From east to west it measures 125 feet, its ordinary
breadth is 54 feet, while at the transepts it is 115. Woodward thinks
from the appearance of the exterior that the body of the church was
widened at some period after its first erection. The windows are various
in style. In the nave they are Transition Norman and Early English, and
in the clerestory Decorated; in the choir aisles Late Norman. The
western doorway is Early English with dogtooth ornament, while the large
window above with its geometrical tracery is "fully developed
Decorated." The most striking feature of the exterior, however, is at
the south-east exterior angle of the south transept, a fine triple arch
with chevron and billet moulding, which was probably once a doorway into
a cloister no longer existing. Within the three-bay nave one is in the
midst of Early English and Transition Norman work. The bases and caps of
the Norman pillars are very rich, and, as has been pointed out, furnish
a great contrast to such Norman work as is seen on the transept pillars
at Winchester itself. The south walls are very plain, and were probably
connected with De Blois' buildings originally. In the choir above the
pier-arches is a triforium of intersecting arches (to which Milner
attributed the origin of the Pointed style), and there is a second
passage beneath the clerestory windows. The floor-brass of John de
Camden (1382) lies in the choir. When the church was restored by
Butterfield the choir was painted in imitation of the old colouring. It
cannot be said that the effect is at all pleasing. The new floor tiles
bear the letters Z.O. to commemorate the anonymous donor of the money
for this restoration. The old encaustic tiles bear the motto "Have
Mynde." In the chancel the Renaissance carving dates from about Henry
VII., while the Henry VIII. stalls have been removed to the morning
chapel in the south aisle. The transepts are a good example of the
transition to Early English style. In the northern arm can be seen the
window opening out of the infirmary, already mentioned above.
[Illustration: THE CITY CROSS, WINCHESTER. From an Old Print.]
[Illustration: TOMBSTONE IN THE CHURCHYARD. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
Of other points of interest in or near Winchester it would be out of
place to speak here at any length, but among the various objects that
are worth seeing in the town itself mention may be made of the City
Cross, erected by the Fraternity of the Holy Cross during the reign of
Henry VI. The chief figures represent William of Wykeham, Florence de
Anne, Mayor of Winchester, Alfred the Great, and S. Laurence, the latter
being the only old figure. Britton, in 1807, said: "The present building
is called the Butter Cross, because the retail dealers in that article
usually assemble round it." He complained of the injury done to it by
"boys and childish men." S. Laurence was the only figure in his day, and
it was then "generally said to be an effigy of S. John the Evangelist."
In the County Hall, which includes the remains of the ancient castle of
William the Conqueror's days, is "King Arthur's Round Table." This is
mentioned as being here by the chronicler John Harding (1378-1465), so
that its antiquity is undoubted. Its present painted design, however,
can not be earlier than the beginning of the sixteenth century, but
since Henry VIII.'s time the same design has been adhered to. The
illustration which appears here comes from an old print of the County
Hall. Milner, in his "History and Survey of Winchester" in the last
century, remarked that the Round Table "was evidently an eating table
for the knights who used to meet here to perform feats of chivalry,
which kind of meetings, from this circumstance, was anciently called
_The Round Table_. These, however, were not so much as known in England,
until the reign of King Stephen, 600 years after the reign of Arthur.
There is great reason to believe that the said Stephen was the real
author of the present table. The figures and characters now painted on
it were certainly first executed in the reign of Henry VIII."
[Illustration: THE WEST GATE, WINCHESTER. _Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
The last illustration represents the oldest of the city gates at
Winchester, parts of it being ascribed to the reign of Stephen. The town
now, of course, extends considerably beyond its original bounds.
DIMENSIONS
Total length (external) 556 feet.
Total length (internal) 526 "
Length of Nave (internal) 262 "
Width of Nave " 83 "
Width of Choir " 88 "
Length of Transept " 209 "
Height of Vault 78 "
TOTAL AREA 53,480 sq. feet.
Altar Screen {43 ft. 9 in. high.
{39 ft. 6 in. wide.
[Illustration: PLAN OF WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL.]
[Illustration: THE CRYPTS. From Britton's "Winchester" (1817).]