Medieval sisters

My "medieval sisters" are sister churches in Winchester, in the south of England. They are both very old, very small and quite unusual. I've known about them for a long time but until just before Christmas, never really explored. They aren't so very easy to find.

If you're walking along the High Street in Winchester you can't miss the Butter Cross (also known as the High Cross or the City Cross). It is an octagonal stepped structure once used to sell goods at market. It still serves as a great meeting place today.

If you step back and look behind it you can see the black and white building which is one of the oldest buildings in Winchester. Looking up there is a tower. If you then walk behind the Butter Cross you can go through a narrow passageway into Great Minster Street and Market Square. Once again, if you look back, you can again see the tower but most people won't be aware of having passed anything other than small shops.

But you will have passed the entrance to the church of St Lawrence in the Square.

From the outside, all you can see is this doorway and the window above.

St Lawrence is the only surviving Norman church in Winchester. It is thought to be the chapel of William the conqueror's Royal Palace, built 1069. There may have been a Saxon chapel on the site before that.

The Black Death came to Winchester in 1348 and the church fell into ruin. It was rebuilt eventually, but during the English Civil War 1645, it was again effectively destroyed when the stones were used to pave the streets and the building turned into a school. In 1672 it was again a church.

The roof dates from the time of Charles II. The church's very simple interior is the result of yet another disaster. In 1978, a fire cased £90,000 worth of damage.

This drawing, from a leaflet produced by the church, gives an idea of what it was like before the fire. The organ is to the side of the altar.

Nowadays the organ is above the entrance to the church. The font, bottom right, is made from Caen stone, from Normandy, dating from 1860.

When a new bishop is to be enthroned in the nearby cathedral, he comes to St Lawrence to be vested in his robes. The single bell (dated 1621) in the tower is rung and the new bishop is led to the cathedral. This has happened ever since 1660.

It is possible that there was once a chancel beyond the large east window because that wasn't installed until the 15th century. The church owns no land apart from the land on which it is built. It has no grounds. At one time there may have been a door through to what was once the rectory but is now the Eclipse Inn.

The sister church to St Lawrence in the Square is St Swithun upon Kingsgate, in some ways very similar, in other ways very different, but it merits a post of its own.

The Great Hall

My attempt to visit and photograph the Great Hall in Winchester eventually succeeded. This not particularly impressive building dating from 1222 is all that remains of Winchester Castle which was demolished in 1651 after the Civil War on the orders of Oliver Cromwell.

Inside the hall is largely empty. It is often used for exhibitions. It was first restored in 1875, and again in 1976 and 1998-9.

At one end is a mural I suppose you'd call it with all the names of British monarchs from Edward I to Victoria. In the photo above you can see William and Mary, James II along with sundry other names. Lord Harry Powlett seems to be popular, and the name Thomas seems to turn up all over the place. I can find no information on the the mural, nor any explanation of the names and dates.

At the other end is the Round Table, now known to have been constructed in the 14th Century, and repainted in its present form for King Henry VIII.

This massive lumpen statue of Queen Victoria is more or less the only other thing of note inside the Hall. It was presented to High Sheriff of Hampshire in 1887 to celebrate the queen's golden jubilee. It is enormous, and not very pretty.

Outside is Queen Eleanor's Garden, a medieval garden recreated in 1986.It is named after Queen Eleanor of Provence wife of Henry III and her daughter-in-law, Queen Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I.  The web of alleyways between buildings of the castle would have left odd shaped plots with high walls which were made into gardens "Let three herbaria be made". This garden has been pieced together from fragmentary descriptions.

The modern building at the end is part of Winchester Crown Court which is in the position of and much the same height as the old castle wall.

The fountain based on a description written in 1272.

The bronze falcon on top of the fountain created from medieval drawings with details from the wooden falcon (1305) in the Winchester Cathedral choir stalls.

An arbour made from coppiced poles of willow. Vines and roses were grown to provide shade to protect the ladies' pale complexions.  The wall to the left was part of King's House built for Charles II with 120 rooms. It was used to house 600 refugee French priests during the French Revolution. Quite cosy then. The building burnt down in 1894 and lines of melted pitch can be seen on parts of the wall.

A turf seat with trellis roses behind and a floor of wild flowers. All plants in the garden would have been grown in thirteenth century gardens.  Herbs were loved for their scented leaves which were more valued than visual beauty, and also had domestic uses.

The wooden bench is adapted from a much larger bench in Winchester Cathedral. On the left is the Pentice roofed with oak shingles.

Although it's really a very small garden, it is very pretty and full of interest. And it changes from season to season.

Every cloud

Every cloud has a silver lining they say. Just a few days ago I missed the bus I was planning to take, which meant I had either a 20 minute wait plus a 20 bus ride, or alternatively I could walk for 35-40 minutes, I decided to walk. I am so pleased that I did because it led to a little voyage of discovery.

I've noticed an attractive church while whizzing past by car or bus, so I went off to Hyde, an area of Winchester to have a look, and take a few photographs while I was there.

I think the stonework is particularly attractive, stone mixed with flints.

When I emerged I noticed a plaque on what I had thought was an old barn on the opposite side of the road, but the plaque said it was Hyde Gate and the site of Hyde Abbey, 1110, the burial place of Alfred the Great, his queen, Ealswith, and their son, Edward the Elder.

The surviving gateway is mainly 15th century but there is evidence of an earlier gate.

The gateway as seen from what would have been the outer court, where only monks and important visitors would have access.

The stone, brick and flint floor. How many feet have walked over this?

One of the windows.

Outside there are traces of the old buildings and the perimeter wall. This fragment is part of the old guesthouse, spanning the mill stream.

Monk's Walk along the stream, viewed towards the south, with the remains of a medieval bridge beyond the guesthouse remains.

The stream, Hyde stream, dates from the mid 13th century when the flow of a natural spring in a nearby village was canalised to power the Abbey mill and to lead into the monastic fish ponds.

As I was investigating the stream, there was a great commotion when I almost stumbled over this duck and her babies.

Of course this diversion meant I had to go and find out more about the place, so the 40 minute walk lengthened to 90 minutes. My ultimate aim was to visit the Great Hall, the Round Table and Queen Eleanor's Garden. As I approached the Great Hall, I discovered that this particular silver lining had a cloud. My camera battery ran out.

St Catherine's Hill

I first walked to, but not up, St Catherine's Hill almost 5 months ago. Yesterday I finished the "up" part of the journey, though the further I went the more I realised there were still more places to explore.

St Catherine's Hill was a settlement over 3,000 years ago, long before Winchester was in existence. In 3 BC it was ringed by the ramparts of an iron age hill fort. In the 12th century, a chapel was built at the top. Nowadays it is a nature reserve, with butterflies and birds everywhere.

The picture of St Catherine's Hill which I took last February. The greens looked rather dull at that time.

If you click on the picture to open up a larger size you can just about see the stairway up the hill. This is what I am heading for, so that I can get to the top.

A little brighter this time as I make my way up the pathway.

Until I get to the fork in the path. Two apparently equally used paths and not a signpost in sight. Which one to take? I choose the right hand one.

And I rapidly realise it isn't the right one. I am faced with what seemed like a vertical wall of grass. But I am intrepid. Up I go, attempting to appear dignified at all times, even while sliding back down.

A view of the Hospital of St Cross, but not really in the direction I am expecting. Taking photos gives me a chance to regain my breath.

A view of Winchester, the more modern part. On the skyline from the left: the hospital, the prison, and Hampshire constabulary. The prison is called Winchester Community Prison. I'm still unsure what the "Community" part is supposed to mean. We can all go in for a look?

The copse at the top of the hill. A mystical, magical atmosphere, perhaps because it is the site of St Catherine's chapel (12th century), though there is no longer any sign that it was there.

People often meet at the summit to celebrate the solstices, or for no particular reason. There are quite a few places where fires have obviously been lit.

The path along the upper rampart, with the underlying chalk showing through.

Looking down at the lower rampart with a ditch in between. Rabbits all over the place.

Eventually I reach the stairs I thought I would be coming up, but I am by now clearly on the other side of the hill from where I started. There must be two sets of stairs.

I eventually make my way right around the hill, back to where my starting point, but still no sign of the correct route. I end up having to scramble back down the bank, through some more trees and clamber under a rail that goes along the correct path.

This was the way I should have gone. Pretty looking steps with a convenient bench half way up. If this stairway seems shorter than the other, it's only because the path itself climbs before reaching the stairs, and the route is more direct and quite a bit steeper here.

The pathway continues along the ditch between the rampart earthworks. But I stop here and turn back, because I'm running out of time (and breath). I'll save the rest for another day.

On the way back, I notice another path, this one running along the Itchen Navigation Canal. I believe it's part of the Itchen Way, and looks like a good route for a future walk.