King Alfred

The back of our King Alfred statue with the tower of the Guildhall to the left and a lovely blue sky from yesterday morning.

Abbey House

Abbey House is the Mayor's house in Winchester. There are just five cities in the country having official residences for their Mayors and Winchester is one of them. Abbey House was built around 1700 and stands on the site of a monastic establishment known as Nunnaminster and later as St. Mary's Abbey, which was founded around AD900 by Alfred's Queen Ealhswith. 

Abbey House was originally a private house, which changed hands several times.  In 1889, the City Council bought the property and gardens "for public purposes". Since that time, the grounds have been open to the public and the house made available to the incumbent Mayor.

Hyde Abbey Garden

Hyde Abbey Garden, Winchester's Golden Jubilee project, was opened on 2nd June 2003 to mark the 50th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The garden is a to commemorate the last known resting place of King Alfred the Great, his Queen Ealswith and their son Edward the Elder. The 3 stone slabs mark the site of the 3 royal graves and the garden itself marks out the medieval church of Hyde Abbey which was founded in 1110 and dissolved and demolished in 1538. Hyde Abbey Garden leads onto the North Walls Park

Nunnaminster

The Nunnaminster, later known as St Mary's Abbey, was founded by Queen Ealhswith, Alfred the Great's wife, in 903 as a Nunnery, and it became one of the foremost centres of learning and art in England. By the 16th century it was one of the largest religious houses in England with 102 people living there including 26 Nuns, officials, servants and children of lords and gentlemen who were there to be educated.

In November 1539 the Abbey was surrendered to Henry VIII as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and most of the monastic buildings were demolished. The site was cleared for the City's Guildhall in 1873. Archaeological excavations were carried out in the 1980s and here we can see stone coffins which were discovered.

E is for English Civil War

The English Civil War (1641-1651) brought destruction to Winchester, with the city initally supporting the King (Charles I). Winchester Cathedral did not remain unscathed. Within the Cathedral are 6 wooden mortuary chests which contain the remains of some of the earliest Saxon Kings. They are the oldest royal bones in England. Names that you might recognise include King Canute who tried to hold back the sea, King Ethelwulf father of Alfred the Great and the oldest of all King Cynegils (reigned from 611-43) the 1st Christian King of Wessex.

Unfortunately no-one knows who is in which chest as in 1642 during the English Civil War Oliver Cromwell's soldiers broke open the chests and scattered the bones on the cathedral floor. They then used the bigger bones to smash the stained glass windows of the cathedral. The bones were later (around 1661) returned to the chests.

For more 'E' Photos go to ABC Wednesday

The Guildhall by night

Winchester Guildhall is built on the site of a nunnery founded by Ealswith, the wife of King Alfred the Great. The nunnery was eventually dissolved by Henry VIII and the land came into the city's hands to help pay for hosting the wedding of Mary Tudor and Philip of Spain in Winchester Cathedral in 1554.

The Victorian Gothic Guildhall as it is today was built in 1871 and opened in 1873. It houses Winchester's Tourist Information Centre is also used as a wedding and conference venue.

St Swithun's Gate Part 2

Here we see St Swithuns Gate from outside of the Cathedral Close. But who was St Swithun?

He was born in Winchester, in about AD 800. In 852 he became Bishop of Winchester. Swithun was famous for his charitable gifts and for his activity in building churches. He was one of the most learned men of his time and the tutored King Aethelwulf and his son Alfred (the Great).

Swithun died 862 and was buried outside the Old Minster. Not long after his death there were talks of miracles he performed, his best known miracle was his restoration on a bridge of a basket of eggs that workmen had maliciously broken. He then became Saint Swithun.

The Old Minster was expanded in the tenth century to become Winchester Cathedral, and St Swithun’s relics were moved into it on 15 July 971. This occasion was marked by very heavy rainfall, and the tradition became that if it rains on St Swithun’s Day, it will rain also for the next forty days:

St Swithun’s Day, if it does rain
Full forty days, it will remain
St Swithun’s Day, if it be fair
For forty days, t’will rain no more

King Alfred



The statue of King Alfred in Broadway Winchester was erected in 1901. King Alfred the Great was an Anglo-Saxon king of the kingdom of Wessex from 871–899. He was one of the outstanding figures of English history, as much for his social and educational reforms as for his military successes against the Danes. He is the only English monarch known as 'the Great'. Alfred, his wife and son are reputedly buried in Winchester.

Quiz on King Alfred

St Bartholomew's Church

In Hyde Winchester is St Bartholomew's Church. The Church was built 900
years ago and in the churchyard at the East end of the Church the remains of
King Alfred (Anglo-Saxon king), his wife and his son are believed to be
buried.
St Bartholomew Hyde