Winchester the ancient capital of Alfred's Saxon kingdom of Wessex!!

In the streets around the cathedral and its close are old pubs, tea rooms and restaurants that offers food for all tastes. The main street has been pedestrianised and there are many small shops with tempting wares as well as a couple of the main stores. But the city is the ideal place for walkers, famed as the start of the Pilgrim's Way it is now a stopping point on many long distance walks.

A towpath leads out to St Catherines Hill, close to Twyford Down, and there is a new 'Keats' walk through the water-meadows beyond the ancient town walls and the famous Winchester College (Now a University) to the Hospice at St Cross. Across the Itchen there is a rather steep walk on St Gile's Hill which leads to a good viewpoint over the city rooftops.

There are a good selection of museums as well as the Great Hall where the legendary Round  Table of King Arthur can be seen.

There is so much information on the city that I will not post a lot here but concentrate mainly on photos of the city and its environs. You only have to put the name into a search engine and there are thousands of websites giving the history of this famous city.

Winchester Cathedral

IMAGES OF THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF WESSEX

"set on a huge block of granite, Alfred stands in his cloak, raising his sword, looking into Winchester, to that great shrine where lie our Saxon kings; to that great hall with what they call King Arthur's Table; to William of Wykeham's famous school; up this street of narrow ways thronged by pilgrims for 1000 years. Towards all this he looks, to all this wonder of our past and all this beauty of today, and we feel that he is looking at Old England carrying on. The thread of life has not broken here since Alfred walked these streets, and we may wonder if there is any name on England's map that means so much to us as Winchester."

St Johns Charitable Alms houses		The Old Chesil Rectory
Winchester College Chapel		The churchyard, note the small headstones
Winchester street scene looking down to the Cathedral		The Guildhall Winchester
Winchester Museum		The home and offices of the Bishop of Winchester
The Pantiles A group of shops whose frontages came onto the road thus the gallery beneath. The name comes from the middle ages where the moneyers used to sit. This is a part of the pedestrianised shopping centre through the High Street and on the left at the end of this group of shops is the Buttercross.		The "Buttercross" The earliest reference to the City Cross is in the early 14th century, when the tenant of this building was known as Walter at the  Cross. Known locally as the Butter Cross, the structure was a focal point for civic ceremonies in the later Middle Ages, when it was flanked by taverns called Hevene and Helle. The upper parts of the cross were rebuilt in 1865 by the architect Gilbert Scott.
The City Mill One of twelve mills which served the city
Jane Austen's house
The reverse of this arch is below		Part of the Pilgrim School
A part of Winchester College		Part of the Pilgrim School
Winchester College		Part of Pilgrim School and the rear of the Cathedral

THE WATER MEADOWS
The River from Wharf Hill		St Catherines Hill from the Watermeadows
The path through the Water Meadows		The Winchester folk love lazing in the sun!
Early Evening sun on the river

MORE IMAGES OF WINCHESTER