| Hyde (Winchester) |
| When I was a child my father used to take me for
walks all around Winchester as it was where he lived as a child and one
of the places that fascinated me was Hyde which was at the bottom and
just outside of the city walls, with its narrow little streets full of
flint covered houses and high flint covered walls, it was also known as
St Bartholomew Hyde. Today though it is very much an integral part of
the modern day Winchester. In earlier times though it was a separate
village in its own right and a Roman cemetery was found here, one of
several cemeteries that have been found outside of Winchester as the
Romans always buried their dead outside city or town walls.
King Alfred the Great is said to have founded the New Minster but it was not consecrated till after his death by his son Edward the Elder in 903AD. The Minster was moved in 1110 to an area of Hyde and the bodies of Alfred and his Queen Alswitha, Edward and the first Abbot St Grimbald were taken there for burial. In the 1800s an excavation of the area was undertaken and human remains were found near the high altar, these were thought to be the bones of Alfred and his Queen and they were carefully removed and taken to St Bartholomew's Church which stands nearby and buried in the graveyard under a square unmarked stone behind the church and this was said to be the final resting place of a mighty king. A thousand years after his death in 1901 a monument of the great of ancient English kings was built by Sir Hamo Thorneycroft and it became one of the city's greatest landmarks. (In the 20th century around 1990 further excavations of this grave were made and it was confirmed that the bones were not that of Alfred and his Queen and it remains a mystery as to where the great king was buried). St Bartholomew's church was built aroud the same time as Hyde Abbey and was used by the employees of that abbey and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries St Bartholomew was permitted to continue as the parish church. There are several large houses that were built for the upper crust families and the Abbey House with its Georgian front was built in the 17th century. A school was also built here by Dr Richards and it was so successful that it was extended into Hyde Close and was designed by the same person who designed the Bank of England , Sir John Sloane, The school eventually closed and was converted to a carpet shop. Hyde Barn was a Malthouse at one time that was owned by the Abbot. And it was near here that the only bombs to hit Winchester in the Second World War came down in Hyde Street causing several casualties.
|
