St Swithun's Day

Today is St. Swithun's Day and this is St Swithun's shrine in the Cathedral. St Swithun is one of the best known of the many Bishops of Winchester. He was born in Winchester, in about AD 800 and was famous for his charitable gifts, church building and tutoring 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 was his mending of a basket of eggs that had been 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, as per the rhyme:

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

Today it is .... Sunny, so fingers crossed it will stay that way for the next 40 days - unlikely though the forecast for the weekend is not good!

Holy hole

Within the Cathedral is a small hole in the retrochoir leading into a tiny passage to nowhere. Its purpose is something of a mystery, however, it is believed to have been a recess through which pilgrims to St. Swithun's Shrine could crawl in order to get as close as possible to the great saint whose shrine for most of its lifetime was set above.

Bishop On The Bridge

B is for Bishop On The Bridge which is a pleasant pub in Winchester. It has a nice atmosphere, live bands occasionally and a great beer garden next to the river (the river is to the left of the pub)

The old East Gate of the city stood approximately where the pub is today, however this was demolished in 1768. The current building dates from 1891 and has been known by various names, The Great Western Hotel, The Riverside Inn, The Louisiana, The Old Monk and more recently The Bishop On The Bridge. The Bishop in question is St Swithun the Saxon Bishop of Winchester from 852-862 who built the 1st bridge over the River Itchen.

Celebrity claim to fame for this pub - James Cagney stayed at this pub in 1942 when he came to Winchester to visit American servicemen at a Red Cross Hospital located in Winchester.

For more photos beginning with 'B' see ABC Wednesday

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

St Swithuns upon Kingsgate

Just through St Swithun's Gate we find a tiny church St Swithuns upon Kingsgate. Kingsgate is one of the ancient gates in the walls of the city of Winchester and this church is built upon it. Churches built over city gates were common in medieval times, but only a few survive today. The first mention of this church is in 1264 when citizens burned it down in a dispute with the Prior of the Abbey. It has been rebuilt and restored over the centuries. There is a staircase which takes one from street level to the Church itself.

St Swithun's Gate

Next to Cheyney Court is St Swithun's Gate, sometimes called Prior's Gate or Close Gate. This gate is the entry/exit to the Cathedral Close. They still close these gates at 10pm each night and a couple of times when coming out of the Wickham Arms Pub, I've found I am locked out of the city!