Bunting a-go-go

Winchester High Street was full of Union Jack Flags this morning. A lot of the shops have royal/British themed window displays. This of course is for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee marking 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. The main Diamond Jubilee celebrations will centre around the extended bank holiday weekend of  2-5 June.

As an aside the weather here today was cold, I'm a bit of a wimp weather-wise but I was wearing my winter coat and I was still cold....and it's nearly June!

Lord Lieutenant

This is the last photo from the military parade and flag raising ceremony held this week. The servicemen reached The Great Hall and were presented to the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Dame Mary Fagan. The role of Lord-Lieutenant began during Tudor times as monarchs had no standing army and relied on noblemen within each county to organise men and arms for the defence of the realm. These days the role is to be the Queen's representative in the County, which includes making arrangements for all Royal visits to Hampshire and representing The Queen by presenting certain honours, medals and awards, and inspecting troops etc. The modern Lord-Lieutenant’s role is unpaid and non-political.

Royal Wedding

So this isn't really a photo from Winchester is it... but couldn't let this moment pass without incorporating it in my blog!

Infact Winchester does have a small claim to fame in all the Royal Wedding fever - according to the Guardian Newspaper Winchester "could justifiably claim to be the most patriotic town in the UK with 23 applications for Royal Wedding street parties".

Personally, along with the majority of people in the UK, I like having a royal family with all the history attached to it and I hope William & Kate will be very happy together.

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.

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.

Stained Glass Window

There are a number of stained glass windows in the Great Hall. The glass was made in 1875-1880 and displays the arms of famous people associated with Hampshire. This window shows Edward I, Henry III, Hugh le Despencer and Roger De Quincey both Earls of Winchester, Edmund Earl of Kent and Elias Dereham a master stonemason who rebuilt the Great Hall for Henry III.

St Lawrence

 

It's hard to get a photo of this tiny church because its entrance is within the passageway leading to The Square and I just can't stand back far enough to get it all in! 

This is the church of St Lawrence-in-the-Square and there has been a church on this site since before the Norman conquest (1066). The original church on this site was incorporated into William the Conqueror’s palace as the royal chapel. The royal chapel was destroyed by fire in 1143, rebuilt in 1150 and again in 1449. Another fire in 1978 led to further restoration and the church reopened in 1980.

The church is in the heart of Winchester and has a very special tradition.When a new Bishop of Winchester is on his way to his enthronement in the Cathedral, he first comes to this tiny church to pray and put on his robes. He then tolls one of the bells ringing himself into office, and then goes out to meet the Mayor, clergy and citizens and proceeds to the cathedral. There should be a new Bishop this year...

Gates

Within the Great Hall are these 2 large stainless steel gates which were designed and made by Antony Robinson as a gift from the people of Hampshire to commemorate the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1981. I wonder what we'll get Prince William & Kate Middleton for their wedding in April?

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

Town Clock

This clock was presented to the city after a royal visit by Queen Anne in 1713. Yesterday's post focused on Queen Anne's statue next to it. The building the clock it is attached to was the Guildhall at the time, but it is now a bank and the current Guildhall can be seen here. The clock was taken down to be refurbished last year and was only but back up in December.

Queen Anne

This is a statue of Queen Anne who reigned from 1702 to 1714 which now sits on top of a bank in the High Street. It was put here after her visit to Winchester in 1705 accompanied by her husband and consort Prince George of Denmark. The Latin inscription near the statue means Queen Anne in the Year of Peace 1713 referring to the signing of the Peace of Utrecht.

The 3 previous monarchs James II, William and Mary had ignored Winchester completely and Charles II's proposed palace at the top of the hill was languishing in an unfinished state. Much to the people's joy Queen Anne decided that she would go ahead with Charles II's palace and present it to Prince George for his future dwelling. At last Winchester seemed to have a royal future again! Unfortunately by 1714 Queen Anne had died and Prince George died even earlier so this statue is a sad farewell to hopes that Winchester might regain its former glory. With the passing of Anne no monarch ever showed an interest in Charles' great scheme and Charles's Palace later became Peninsula Barracks.

Fire!

Yesterday the blog visited Peninsula Square which was once the home of The King's House, a palace designed by Sir Christopher Wren for King Charles II in 1683. This wall is one of the only remaining parts of the original King's House as the building was destroyed by fire in 1894. The wall itself is now part of Queen Eleanor's Garden behind the Great Hall, and although not very interesting in itself I found it fascinating as you can see on the wall the lines of melted pitch from that came from the roof during the fire.

The King's House

This is Peninsula Square that I have visited previously in this blog. The luxury houses and apartments here are housed in what was previously Peninsula Barracks.

The original buildings which stood here before were built by Sir Christopher Wren for King Charles II and were destroyed in a fire in 1894. King Charles fell in love with Winchester, and was determined to build a huge royal palace here. He was offered the site of Winchester Castle  and Sir Christopher Wren produced a superb design which was to rival the palace of Versailles. Work began demolishing all the remaining traces of Henry III's medieval castle except the Great Hall in early 1683. Charles II, knowing that he was approaching the end of his life and wanting to see his palace completed before his death, said, 'If it be possible to be done in one year, I will have it so, for a year is a great deal in my life.'

Sadly it was not to be, Charles II died in February 1685 and although the outside of the Palace was built and roofed, it was little more than an incomplete shell. The following monarch (James II), abandoned the project and the building, known as the King's House, fell into disrepair. In the 18th century it was used to hold military prisoners and eventually became military barracks in 1796.

 From the Winchester Museum Archives here is a photo of the original King's House, the style being not too dissimilar to the building of today

Littlehales Fountain & 100th post

When the CDPB monthly theme was announced as 'fountains' I thought I'd have a hard time finding any in Winchester as none spring to mind (no pun intended!), but I have infact found 3, and there are probably more hidden away. OK so they're not Trevi Fountains, but here's the first...

At Oram's Arbour in the Fulfood suburb of Winchester is a drinking fountain. Erected in 1880 by Lancelot Littlehales in memory of  his mother Ann Littlehales. The drinking fountain is no longer in use and was originally sited near the Westgate. It features in a photograph of a visit by King George V to Winchester in 1911.  It was moved to its current location in 1935. The photo was taken back in January, the snow has now gone!

Also on a personal note this is my 100th post on my daily photo blog! Not the 100th day as I had a little hiccup at the beginning of the blog! Thanks to anyone who has ever passed by, left comments or followed!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Oldest house in Winchester

Here on the corner of Blue Ball Hill and St John's Street is what is supposed to be the oldest house in Winchester. It's the Old Blue Boar and was built around 1340. The property which is now a private house was originally an inn known as The White Boar which was the emblem associated with King Richard III. King Richard was killed in a battle at Bosworth Field in 1485 by Henry VII who had been helped by the Earl of Oxford. The Earl's badge was a Blue Boar and in order not to upset the new King many owners of White Boar Inns were reported to have quickly painted their white boars blue!

The pub is also renowned for being the place in 1764 where a volunteer solider called Thomas Thetcher "died of a violent fever contracted by drinking small beer when hot". He is buried in Winchester cathedral as my post yesterday showed.

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.

Was Winchester Camelot?

As mentioned yesterday here we have the legendary King Arthur's Round Table and it is thought that Winchester may infact have been the fabled Camelot, see here for more info. 

A great pull for the tourists, but unfortunately through testing of the wood it was discovered that the table was probably only created around 1270 (so modern!) and therefore is not old enough for King Arthur (if there ever was such a person).

It's believed that the table was repainted by Henry VIII, hence the Tudor rose in the centre and possible likeness of Henry as King Arthur.

Kings & The Great Hall

The Great Hall is steeped in history, many Kings stayed, lived and were born here. Another King is also linked with the Great Hall and that is the legendary King Arthur. Behind these doors sits the fabled Round Table with the names of the twenty four knights including the most famous Sir Galahad and Sir Lancelot.

The Great Hall

The Great Hall is the only remaining part above ground of Winchester Castle. The original Winchester Caste was built by William the Conqueror (1066). In 1222 the original buildings were replaced by the buildings that stand today. During the English Civil War the castle was held by the Royalists until its capture in 1646. Oliver Cromwell then ordered the Castle to be demolished but the Great Hall was kept.

The Nave

The beautiful nave of Winchester Cathedral with its intricate vaulted ceiling. Iron hooks are set into the pillars which now hold modern batik banners by Thetis Blacker. The hooks were originally for a series of tapestries for the wedding of Queen Mary Tudor to Phillip of Spain in 1554.