WINCHESTER. The capital of 11 a mpsh i re, England, on the Itchen, 66 miles by rail south west of London (Map: England, F 5). In the fourteenth century it was the principal seat of England's woolen manufactures and had an ex tensive Continental trade, but since the fifteenth century its prosperity has gradually declined. The city consists of one main street, crossed by a number of streets running at right angles to it, and was in early times surrounded by a wall, of which remains exist. The Castle-bill is the site of the unedia•vat castle or royal palace, part of which survives in a magnificent hall, which is used for the county court; King Arthur's 'Round Table,' a sixth-century relic, hangs on one of its walls. Charles 11. commenced a palace here, the completed part of which, used as a barracks, accommodated 2000 men until its de struction by fire in 1894; new barracks have since been built. The city cross in the High Strout, dating from the fifteenth century, is very beautiful in design. A colossal bronze statue, erected in 190] in connection with the King Al fred millennial celebration. typifies the great monarch, and stands in the Broadway. "Seinte Marie College of Wynchestre," now Saint Mary's or Winchester College (q.v.), was founded by William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winches ter, and completed in 1393. Winchester's chief glory is the cathedral. A church is said to have been built in the year 169, to have been destroyed in 266, restored in 293, and converted into a temple of Dagon or Wodin. In 635 the desecrated church was pulled down, and a new one commenced. From the year 674 the succession of bishops of Winchester, which in eludes the celebrated Saint Swithin (q.v.), has continued unbroken. Of the ancient cathedral, in which most of the Saxon kings of Wessex (see HEPTARCIlY) were interred, no portion The present cathedral was built by Bishop Wal kelin (1870-97). William of Wykeham greatly
enlarged and hcautified the building and began the remarkable transformation of the nave from the Norman to the Perpendicular. The ca thedral is 560 feet long; its breadth at the tran septs is 208 feet, length of nave 351 feet. and height 86 feet. There is a low central Norman tower 186 feet high. The interior is magnificent. and contains many objects of the highest inter est—as the tomb of William Rufus; the golden shrine of Saint Swithin, with some excellent specimens of sculpture, both ancient and mod ern ; the tomb of Edmund, the son of King Alfred; and the tomb of Tzaak Walton. There are other churches of interest and buildings of a religious and educational character. including the remains of Hyde Abbey. where King Alfred was buried. About a mile from the town is the famous Hospital of Saint Cross. founded in 1136 by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester. The city possesses a public library and a museum. Population, in 1901, 20,919.
Winchester, the Roman l'enta Belgarunt, was the site of a British city before it became a Roman station, and a place of considerable im portance. Taken by the Saxons in 495, the town was called Wintanceaster. As the capital of Wessex, Winchester became the capital of Eng land, and even after the Norman Conquest was long a chief royal residence. In 1263, during the Barons' 1'611(1ms:ter was sacked. It was taken by Cromwell in 1645: the castle was dismantled and the cathedral pillaged and van dalized. Consult: Kitchin, ll'inchester (London, 1890) ; Leach, History of Winchester College (New York, 1899).