Winchester, the city of Hampshire, is situated on the Itchen, 60 miles WSW. of London. It originated, as some other towns, in a tribal settlement placed for safety on the summit of a hill. As the settlers became more numerous they descended the slope (St Catherine's) to the more convenient plain, which, in contradistinction to their former abode, they named 'Gwent,' or the hollow. The monoliths here found, and called 'druidical,' were probably brought down into the valley by drifts in early ages. The Romans, on coming up the river, observed the advantages of the site, took possession of the town, and formed its future plan. They made it rectangular, the main streets crossing at right angles, and the principal one corresponding with the present High Street. Alongside of the wattled huts of the 'Belgre' soon grew up city walls, temples (to Apollo and Concord), and other evidences of southern civilisation. A head college for flames was established, and, if the record be true, the first Christian church in Britain was built here, 169 A.D. Tesselated pavements and many relics of this interesting period are preserved in the museum of the new guildhall, while the walls of Wolvesey are studded with Roman bricks and drums of columns. The church was converted into a 'temple of Dagon' (Woden?) by the Saxons, 495 A.D. The Romans spelt the name Venta; but perhaps the old pronunciation survived. The Saxons restored the form in Wintaneastre.
The palmy days of Winchester, when it disputed with London the claim to be the capital of England, were during the last three Saxon and first two Norman centuries. Early in the 7th century an Italian monk, Birinus, converted King Cynegils, whose son gave all the land as far as 7 miles round Winchester—some of it is still held by the dean and chapter—for the establishment of a new church. Moreover, the palatial fortress of Wolvesey was the royal residence of the kings of Wessex, which became England. Alfred the Great, educated here at the Prior's School, resided during his long reign at Winchester, of which his tutor St Swithun (see SWITHIN) was a native and afterwards a bishop. At Wolvesey his scribes compiled the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,' the first English prose book, assisted by the king himself, who ordered that the volume should be kept there; it is now in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. His queen founded St Mary's nunnery here—the site now marked by Abbey House—in which her daughter in piety washed the nuns' clothes. Alfred also founded the 'New Monastery,' afterwards called from his favourite master, 'St Grimbalds.' After the king's death the monks by trickery obtained his body, which had been buried in the adjacent monastery of St Swithun's, and, becoming also possessed of the bones of St Josse, caused a rich stream of miracles to flow forth. Cnut (Canute) presented them with a great cross, containing sixty pounds of silver and fifteen of gold. But in Edgar's reign a cathedral had arisen which far surpassed this or any other ecclesiastical edifice in England. Bishop Æthelwold, with Dunstan, introduced the stricter monasticism, but was not above using a 'vocal cross' and disregarding the rights of property. He erected a magnificent building, which had numerous altars, a tremendous organ, a lofty tower with golden gargoyles and balls like stars, a marvellous weathercock, and a crypt which became the burial-place of kings and bishops. But chief attraction here was the body of St Swithun and the miracles it produced.
The abbot of the 'New Monastery,' being Harold's uncle, went in arms with some of the monks to the battle of Hastings. William was greatly displeased, and when he built his palace at Winchester, which extended from the present Butter Cross to Minster Street and Lane, the monks were so much circumscribed that they were glad to move across to Hyde Mead, on the north-west of the city. This took place in 1110, and thirty years afterwards the abbey was destroyed by fire-balls from Wolvesey. Bishop de Blois, who had rebuilt that castle and filled it with art-treasures—some ruins remain—sided with his brother Stephen in his conflict with Matilda in 1141, when the south of Winchester supported the king and the north the empress. The fight raged for seven weeks in the heart of the city. The monastery was soon afterwards rebuilt; in 1390 the abbot was mitred, and at the dissolution the silver was calculated to be worth 2000 marks. In 1788 a bridewell was constructed out of the ruins, but portions of St Bartholomew's Church appear to be old. Beneath the east window lie the bones of five persons found here in 1867, and supposed to be those of King Alfred, his queen, two sons, and St Grimbold.
The castle of Winchester is said to have been built by order of the Conqueror, and certainly was in existence in the reign of Henry I. The Norman castle consisted of a tower 52 feet square, and had walls 14 feet thick. Here was kept for some years the celebrated Domesday Book; here Earl Godwin died suddenly at a banquet, for his sins it was said, and here in 1097 Anselm and Walkelin had a fierce contest about the claims of pope and king. The succeeding castle had round towers 30 or 40 feet wide, with walls from 8 to 10 thick, and had subterranean passages radiating in three directions. Henry III. ('of Winchester') was born here, and resided in the castle, which was then decorated with mural painting, statuary, and marble pillars. It had also a Mappa Mundi and Wheel of Fortune—the latter may have been turned into 'Arthur's Round Table,' which now hangs in the hall. Owing to a confusion between this Gwent and the one in Monmouthshire, Arthur's legends were transferred to Winchester, probably before Henry II.'s time, and this mistake caused Henry VII. to give the name of that hero to his eldest son, who was born in this castle. We first hear of the Table in Henry VI.'s reign; Henry VIII. showed it to Charles V., and it has not been repainted since. On the parapet of this castle Edward I. fixed a quarter of the last native Prince of Wales; Isabella there spiked the head of Despencer Earl of Winchester, and she had Edmund of Woodstock decapitated on the green below. Here Raleigh, after his trial at Wolvesey, was imprisoned, and several of his companions were beheaded. The castle had become much dilapidated before the Cavaliers took refuge here—soon to surrender to Waller. The city and castle were retaken by the royalists, but finally yielded to Cromwell, who was here in person in 1645. One tower of the castle remains, with the fine hall 110 feet long, adorned with pillars of Purbeck marble. For 400 years after the Conquest the parliaments of England occasionally sat in it, and now it is used as a law-court. Hard by stands the red brick palace of Charles II., now a barrack.
The fantastic cathedral of the Saxons did not accord with Norman ideas, and Bishop Walkelin, a kinsman of William, demolished it, and built (1079-93), partly perhaps on the same site, a dark and ponderous pile. He commenced two western towers, the foundations of which have been traced. The central tower fell in 1107, but was soon rebuilt. As there are no quarries near Winchester, the stone for this and for the castle was brought from the Isle of Wight. This great edifice forms the substantial part of the present cathedral, and is visible in places. The Early English retro-choir still exists, built by Bishop de Lucy seventy years later. But 250 years produced dilapidations, and Bishop Edington commenced to renovate in the Perpendicular style, building the west porch and three windows in the aisles. Wykeham, his successor, carried on the work, finished the south aisle, and began the north. He pulled down the heavy triforium, and carried the pillars up to a great height, casing the round Norman ones; replaced the small round-headed clerestory windows with large pointed lights, and added an arched stone-groined roof, producing by this transformation the finest Perpendicular nave extant (see Vol. VIII. p. 59). The work was completed by Cardinal Beaufort and Bishop Wayneflete. Specially interesting are the monuments and unrivalled chantries in this cathedral. In the centre of the choir stands an ancient tomb, said to be that of Rufus, but more probably that of De Blois. We may also notice those of Bishops de Lucy, De la Roche, Edington, Wykeham, Cardinal Beaufort, Wayneflete, Langton, Gardiner, Fox, North, Jane Austen, and
Izaak Walton. The resting-places of the Saxon kings and bishops are unique—coffers perched on the partition walls of the choir. This collection was commenced by Bishop de Blois—two of whose chests remain, and was completed by Bishop Fox, but some of the names are probably not correctly inscribed. In the Civil War the soldiers pillaged the cathedral, and, knocking down the chests on the north side, scattered the bones and used them for breaking the windows. This cathedral is the longest in England (520 feet) except Canterbury, which exceeds it by five feet. It has an ancient sculptured font said to have been presented by De Blois. In the library are some Anglo-Saxon charters, 12th-century books, bishops' rings, and other treasures. Walkelin obtained from Rufus the right of holding a fair on St Giles' Hill, which became the greatest but one in England.
A great impulse was given to education when in 1369-93 Winchester College was founded here by Wykeham. Some monks had previously given instruction, but nothing on a grand scale had been attempted. This foundation, called the 'New College,' was original in that it was non-monastic, and was in connection with a college at Oxford. It was intended for priests, and especially for those of limited means. The building, placed in the Soke or Liberty, a district under episcopal jurisdiction, was protected by the vicinity of the cathedral, monastery, watch-house, and Wolvesey Castle, but the site was so marshy that it was partly erected on piles. This edifice is that at present existing, with the exception of the chantry chapel, schoolroom, and tower. At the entrance of the kitchen stands the picture of the Trusty Servant—the present costume is that of the 18th century, though the picture is supposed to have been placed here by Johnson, head-master in 1560, and is a copy from the French. The hall is magnificent, 53 feet in length, with oak panelling and fittings. Here little flat squares of board, formerly the dinner plates, are still used for bread and butter. In the schoolroom, built by Warden Nicholas (1687), stands the celebrated signboard painting, as old as the middle of the 15th century, informing the schoolboy that he must learn, leave, or be flogged with a four-twigged rod. The foundation was for a warden, ten fellows, three chaplains, an usher, and seventy scholars. In 1857 the fellowships were reduced to six. Here the system of 'monitors' originated, and they alone, about twenty, were allowed to have fags: servants now do most of the fagging. Until the middle of the 16th century the boys' beds consisted of some straw thrown on the concrete floor. There were always some boys who were not on the foundation, and as they increased 'Old Commoners' was built in 1730 for their accommodation. Dr Moberly built in 1838 the present head-master's house, new halls and dormitories. The last-named are now class-rooms, and the commoners are lodged in nine tutors' houses, each containing thirty-four boys, two or three in a room. The expenses of a commoner amount to about £150 a year. The number of boys in the school is now about 450. Those on the foundation are elected between twelve and fourteen years of age by competition. There are several exhibitions and scholarships varying from £25 to £50 a year, and three gold medals. A rifle corps was established in 1860; there is a little boating, and a football game peculiar to the school; an annual cricket match is played with Eton. Many great men have been educated at Winchester, as Archbishops Warham and Howley, Sir Thomas Browne, Bishop Ken, the poets Collins, Warton, Young, Otway, and Bowles, Louth of the Commentaries, Lemprière of the Dictionary, Dr Arnold of Rugby, Sydney Smith, and Lord Sherbrooke.
There are two hospitals in Winchester dedicated to St John, and said to have been founded by Birinus; one has been lately rebuilt, the other has a fine hall belonging to the corporation, and some Decorated windows. Portions of the city wall, mostly built in the reigns of John and Henry III., still remain, and two of the gates. Several of the town houses are ancient; the Butter Cross dates from Henry VI.; and close to it an old clock projects over the High Street in front of the former gildhall. The city once extended to St Cross, Wyke, Worthy, and Magdalen Hill, and in the reign of Henry I. had 20,000 inhabitants, but declined so much after being sacked in 1265 that it has hardly yet regained that amount, the pop. being 13,704 in 1851, and 19,073 in 1891. A free library was established here in 1877. A mile distant stands the interesting hospital of St Cross, founded in 1132 by De Blois, partly from the spoils of Hyde Abbey; but nearly all the present buildings were erected by Cardinal Beaufort.
See Dean Kitchin's Winchester (1890); Royal Winchester, by the present writer (1889); two books by the Misses Bramston and Leroy (1882-93); the Diocesan History, by Benham (1884). On the College, see Winchester College, by Old Wykehamists (1894); Tuckwell, The Ancient Ways (1893); Adams, Wykehamica (1878); Kirby's Winchester Scholars (1888) and Annals of Winchester College, 1369-1892 (1892); Holroyd's Winchester Commoners (1891); Wrench's Winchester Word-book (1891); and histories by Leach (1899) and Townsend Warner (1901). See also WYKEHAM.