Clarendon Way: Winchester to King's Somborne

Winchester

Winchester may seem like a small, picturesque city today, but it was once the most important city in England. It was a Roman town that later became the capital of Wessex and later England, before the centre of power moved to Westminster. The city is centred on the grand Norman cathedral, although the Saxon street plan can still be seen. Stretches of the medieval town walls (built on the foundations of the Roman wall) still exist; the best perhaps being alongside the river in the east.

Perhaps the city’s most famous son was Alfred the Great, a statue of whom can be seen near to the town hall.

There are plenty of shops and other facilities in the city. The Itchen Way and King’s Way pass through the city, whilst the South Downs Way, Pilgrim’s Trail, St Swithun’s Way and the Clarendon Way both start in it.

Winchester Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral is an impressive Normal structure, well befitting the ancient capital of Wessex. At the time it was finished it was the largest church in Europe; it still has the longest nave. It is situated on the site of a stone Saxon Cathedral that was started in 642, the outline of which can be seen on the grass outside. It has the longest nave of any European Cathedral.

The Old Minster was demolished from 1093, fourteen years after construction of the new cathedral was started. Later alterations included the addition of a central tower and many chantry chapels.

In engineering circles, the cathedral is famous for ‘the Winchester Diver’, a man called William Walker. The cathedral had been built with very shallow foundations, and the waterlogged ground meant that by the Twentieth Century the entire building was in danger of collapse. William Walker worked for six hours a day for six years to 1912, placing thousands of tons of concrete and brick under the foundations. A statue to him was erected in the cathedral; it later turned out that the face on that statue belonged to the foreman of the works rather than Walker!

Many famous people are buried within the cathedral, as befits a royal stronghold. It has also seen royal marriages. Perhaps the most famous burial, however, is of Jane Austen, who was buried within the cathedral in 1817.

Winchester museums

Winchester is home to many museums. Firstly is the City Mill, which straddles the River Itchen on the eastern side of the city. It was rebuilt in 1743 on the site of a Medieval mill, and is now operated by the National Trust.

The City Museum tells the story of the historic city, from Roman times to modern.

The Westgate Museum is situated in the fortified medieval gateway situated, obviously, at the western end of the old city. It was used as a debtors’ prison for 150 years, and includes prisoners’ graffiti and many other exhibits.

As well as the above, there are several regimental museums, most of which are situated at the western end of the city. These include museums for the Ghurkas, the Royal Green Jackets and the Royal Hampshire Regiment, amongst others.

St Cross Hospital

The Hospital of St Cross is situated to the south of Winchester, on the western side of the River Itchen. The hospital was set up in the 12th century, and it is Britain’s oldest charitable institution.

Surprisingly, the hospital – using the word hospital in the original sense, as in hospitality – is a secular institution, and supports twenty-five men, the ‘Brothers of St Cross’, and feeds one hundred men each day at the gates. The buildings are absolutely spectacular examples of medieval and later craftsmanship. The hospital is a little-known secret, and is well worth a visit.

An ancient tradition at the hospital is the Wayfarers Dole (a small cup of beer and a morsel of white bread) that is given out to visitors. This can apparently be received by knocking on the door of the Porter’s Lodge and requesting the Dole.

Oliver's Battery

Situated on the hillside high above Winchester, Oliver's Battery was allegedly the site of a battery that Oliver Cromwell used to bombard the royalist stronghold of Winchester during the Civil War. However, recent research has cast some doubt on this theory. The earthworks actually date back to the Iron Age, and although it may not have been used as a battery by the Roundheads, it may well have been a camp for their army.

St Catherine's Hill and the Winchester Bypasses

St Catherine's Hill is a conical chalk hill situated directly to the southeast of Winchester. It is topped by the ramparts of an Iron Age hillfort, the site of a 12th Century chapel of St Catherine, and a 17th Century mizmaze, a maze in grass.

Water meadows used to separate the hill from the city. They were further separated by the construction of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton railway in 1891, and later by the 1937 bypass. The railway has since closed, and so has the bypass. Unfortunately the price of this was the construction of the M3 over Twyford Down, immediately to the east of the hill.

With the coming of the motor car, Winchester became a bottleneck. This led to the construction of one of Britain's first dual-carriageway bypasses in 1937, which was situated between the flood meadows and St Catherine's Hill. The road was controversial at the time, but nowhere near as controversial as its replacement. The dual carriageway had many roads leading off it, causing congestion as traffic levels increased. This, coupled with a gap in the M3 motorway, led to the extension of the M3 over Twyford Down in the early 1990's. Protests failed to prevent its construction, and the motorway now whisks people and freight from the south coast ports to London. There was an upside to this, however: the original bypass was removed. This was so successful that it is hard to tell that there was ever a road there, and I have seen deer resting on the site of the old road.

Farley Mount and the Farley Mount Country Park

Farley Mount is a hill to the west of Winchester. At the summit is an unusual pyramidal folly. It looks slightly like an alien spacecraft has landed on this high hill. The monument was erected in memory a horse called ‘Beware chalk pit’, which carried its owner to victory in a race in 1734, the year after jumping into a 25-foot deep chalk pit.

Farley Mount Country Park stretches northeast from the mount. There are several car parks for the park, including picnic areas.

King's Somborne

King's Somborne is a supremely pretty village situated on the eastern side of the River Test. There are plenty of half-timbered, thatched houses, including The Crown Inn, the village pub. The Church of St Peter and St Paul's is directly opposite the pub. There are also two shops.