Saturday 14 January 2012
What an excellent day to be visiting the ancient cathedral city of Winchester. The air is crisp and frost crunches under our feet, but the sky is blue with the promise of a fine day. Said to be one of the prettiest small cites in England the construction of Winchester's mighty cathedral began in 1079. Interred here are twelve English Kings, as is Jane Austin. Her grave is marked with a plain stone decorated only with a simple inscription and no mention of her now famous books. But I am getting ahead of myself. The delightful elderly gentleman guide we had all to ourselves entertained us with tales of the cathedral's history and directed us to some of the more interesting features of this incredible building.
One thing I wanted to see was the Winchester Bible. Worked on, according to the guide book, for more than 20 years by various scribes and illustrators. Its original two volumes are now four. The illustrations are truly beautiful and as crisp and bright as the day they were created, using gold leaf and bright blue paint made from lapis lazuli. Enthusiastic volunteers explained many of the details of the great books..
After warm up in the café with the usual latte we walked a short distance into the town to the museum to learn about the town’s history, from Roman times right up to modern times. Our return coach wasn't due for at least an hour so we decided to take in The Great Hall. This huge stone building houses what for centuries has been known as the Round Table. Yes that’s right, of King Arthur and the Knights fame. Apparently carbon dating sets it in the right time frame and x-rays verify that it has had the same pattern painted on it for all that time.
Winchester is defiantly on our list of ‘Places to Go Back To’
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