Winchester

Last week, I spent a few days in Winchester - a beautiful city which almost overflows with history. It was a Roman town (Venta Belgarum); the capital of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex - forever associated with the only English King to be known as "the Great" (Alfred) and St Swithun - and I was there on St Swithun's Day - and sadly, it did rain. (The story is that if it rains on St Swithun's Day, it will rain for a further forty days and forty nights!). William the Conqueror built a palace there - and  a Castle was built that dominated the city in the medieval period. The only remaining building of the castle has on its wall - the so-called Round Table of King Arthur. Modern tests have proved that it is of medieval construction  to celebrate the legend of King Arthur. The Cathedral is the longest in Europe, and stands next to the site of the original cathedral in which the Kings of Wessex and England were buried. There bones are now in the current cathedral - as is the burial place of Jane Austin.
 
Over coming days, I'll be posting about the different phases of the city's history.

For information on visiting Winchester - http://www.visitwinchester.co.uk