St Peter's Convent

Next door to Milner Hall and part of St Peter's Church buildings is St Peter's Convent. The numbers of sisters here are dwindling as I understand. Currently they run St Peter's Convent Nursery School. I myself went to a convent - I hope these nuns aren't as fierce as some of mine were!

Milner Hall

The former St Peter's Chapel, now known as the Milner Hall, lies tucked away between St. Peter Street and Jewry Street. For more than three hundred years it was hidden from passing view by a heavy black door. In 1989 the door was replaced by an elegant wrought iron gate through which the Hall stands framed by the arch.

The Chapel, built by Reverend John Milner in 1792, was the first Catholic Church to be consecrated since 1558. Milner was priest in Winchester between 1779 and 1803 and had a desire to see Catholic worship re-established in a proper setting after the many years of secrecy and isolation.

There is now a St Peter's Catholic Church and Milner Hall is used for concerts, talks, meetings and general hire.

Winchester Royal Hotel

The Winchester Royal Hotel in St Peter's Street was built in the reign of King Charles II and is the oldest surviving hotel in the city.

St Peter's Street has been the centre of Roman Catholic life in Winchester for many years. Lady West's House, as the Royal Hotel was known in the mid sixteenth century, was a refuge for hunted priests and Mass was said there in a secret chapel. Lady West's name appeared on a list of Recusants, these were people who refused to attend services in the established Church. They incurred huge fines or imprisonment. To be a recusant was risky enough but to provide a meeting place for Catholics and to shelter priests were very dangerous acts at the time. 5 priests who had been at Lady West’s were executed, and are known as the Winchester Martyrs, they appear in stained glass windows in St Peter's Church.

In 1794 the building was sold to the Catholic London District and became a convent for refugee English Benedictine nuns and in 1858 it was converted into a hotel.