Winchester

Winchester

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Winchester, by Sidney Heath This
eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Winchester
Author: Sidney Heath
Release Date: April 25, 2005 [EBook #15706]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
WINCHESTER ***

Produced by Ted Garvin, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://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,