The tut of the great sufferings of Winchester occurred during the civil war between Charles 1. and the Parliament. Tho city adhered to the ULT. On the 29th of Ilarolt, 1044,a battle was fought on Cheriton Down, in which Sir William Waller, the parliamentary general. was victorious; and Ids soldiera destroyed or defaced the stained-glass wiudews, the monuments, and relics of the cathedral. After the battle of Naseby, Cromwell was sent to reduce Winchester under the authority of the Parliament.. Having taken the city after a week's siege, he underualned and blow up Winchester Castle, and laid AVoleeeey Castle and the other fortified places iu ruins. St. Mary's College escaped from injury it. is said through the firmness of one of the parliamentary officers, who was a Wykehamis.t. In 1600 very many of tha inhabitants of Winchester were destroyed by the plague. An obelisk, with an inscriptiou, commemorates the event. Charles II. took a liking to the place, an:. employed Sir Christopher Wren to deeigu and erect a palace, which he inteuded for a summer residence, on the sits of Winchester Castle. The king laid the foundation-stone, March 3rd, 16S3, and the work was carried on with vigour till the death of Charles iu 1635, when a stop was put to it, and it was never completed. The building is now used as a barrack for inEwtry.
The city is built on the slope of an eminence which Tina gently from the right bank of the Itehio. Tho river is made navigable as a canal from Winchester to the sea. The city is well supplied with water, and the streets are well paved, and are lighted with gas.
The liberty of the Soke encompasses the city on almost every side, ow I a small part is within the city. The Soke is divided into the East Soke and the West Soke. The ancient city had four principal gates—north, south, east, and west ; of these only the West Gate, at the end of the High-street, now remains: it is a massy square tower over a wide gateway. The tower is built in the Norman style : it is now employed sa • room in which to preserve the corporation records.
Winchester befog the centre of au agricultural district, it has a good corn-market, which is well attended. Wednesday and Saturday are the marketadays. Four fairs are held in the course of the year, one of which is a large sheep fair.
Of the public buildings of the city, the first place is due to Win chester Cathedral, which is one of the largest cathedrals in England, and in many respects one of the most interesting. From the west entrance to the choir is 356 feet ; the length of the choir is 135 feet; and the Lady Chapel at the east end is 54 feet, which makes the total length 545 feet.. As a distinct part, the nave is 250 feet long, 86 feet wide including the aisles, and 78 feet high. The choir is 40 feet wide. The length of the transepts is 156 feet. The square of the tower is 48 feet by 50 feet, and the height is 138i feet, which is only about 26 feet above the roof; of course it has a low and squat appearance, and was perhaps not intended to contain hells, but only to throw additional light into the choir, and inereaao the interior effect; by additional height. The present bells were suspended in the reign of Charles I.
Viewed from the exterior, the west front is by far the most imposing part of the structure. On entering the building, the view from the west end to the east is magoifieent : the vast length of vista formed by the nave and choir, with the splendid ceiling, the columns and arches on each hand and overhead, and the eastern window casting its dim religious light' from behind the choir, produce a combined result of solemnity and beauty equalled by few cathedrals in Europe.
The original structure of Winchester Cathedral was destroyed by the pagan Cerdic, and rebuilt by one of his successors, the Christian Kinegils. Some of the most substantial walls and pillars of the present structure were erected by St. Ethelwold, bishop of Winchester, who lived to finish it and to dedicate it to St. Swithin in 980. In 1079, having been much damaged by the Danes, it was repaired by Bishop Weikel} n, who built the present tower, with part of the nave and transepts, and In 1093 re-dedicated the church to St.. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Swithin. The bishops De Lucy, Edyngten, and ykehaza repaired and rebuilt other portions. Bishop Fox in the early part of the 10th century rebuilt some portions. The grandeur of tha west front is due to Wykeham. Many restorations and repairs of the cathedral have been recently executed at an expense of upwards of 50,0001. Among the monuments in the cathedral may be mentioned the tomb of William Rufus, of plain gray stone, without inscription, in the choir; the at mortuary chaste of wood, carved, painted, and gilt, in which Bishop Fox deposited the remains of Saxon kings and other distinguished persona, which he transferred from the decayed lead coffins in which they had been buried; and especially the beau tiful chantries or oratories of the bishops Edyngten, Wykeham, Beaufort, 1Vaynflete, and Fox.
Winchester College (St. Mary's College), which is ontaide the city boundary on the south-esult, was founded by William of Wykeham in 1337, on the site of 'the great grammar reboot of Winchester; at which he had been educated. The college was founded and endowed by Wykehaw as a preparatory college to New College, Oxford, which he had founded a short time before. The college was opened March 2Sth, 1393: In 1854 there were in the college 70 scholars on the foundation, and 16 chorirtera. The number of commoners, boys not on the foundation, was about SO, who are lodged in a spacious quad rangular building coutiguous to the college. The buildings of Win chester College are spacious, and comprise a chapel, a hull of gothic architecture, and a library ; a school-room, erected by subscription of the Wykehamists in 1637 ; and a hall iu which the commoners dine. Over the entrance to the school-room is a bronze statue of Wykeliam.