In a blow to kittens everywhere, the city of Winchester has become a serious challenger in the fight to be declared 'cutest thing ever'.Needless to say, I went to Winchester today. Ha, I rhyme. Winchester's claim to fame is that is the ancient capital of England. This particular brand of ancient means Saxon times (they were the rulers before the Normans came in 1066). According to it's own city museum, it stopped kind of mattering circa 1280.
There are two big tourist draws to the city. The first is the cathedral. It's sort of built in the same spot as older churches, nicely called Old Minster and New Minster. They started the church in the 11oos and they didn't build all of it at first because one of the Minsters was there and it took a really long time to demolish it, so the inside has three distinct sections with different styles. There are some things in there that English people care about but I forget what they are, but I will say that Jane Austen is buried inside and I walked on her grave stone thingy. For all you fellow engineer types, when the Romans came to town they diverted the River Itchen slightly to the east, and the cathedral is built where the river used to flow and it is a flood plain. About a hundred years ago the foundations were crumbling and there was a general worry that the cathedral would collapse, but this diver guy conveniently spent 5 and a half years underground doing repairs to the foundation and managed to save the cathedral. All while wearing an early 20th century diving suit. The crypt of the cathedral floods quite a bit just about every winter. If you want to actually learn about the cathedral without any of my messed up facts, you can click on the link below. Oh, and the organist was practicing when I went in. It was really intense.
http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/
Highlight number two is the Great Hall and it's round table. They say that the legend of King Arthur is based on this actual Saxon king who lived in Winchester in the 600s and he was really good at not being taken over by invaders. So this was a popular tale in the 1200s and so they made a giant table and started telling people it was the table of myth, even though it's not. So it's been hanging on the wall and slightly confusing people for 700 years now. The Great Hall is the only building that remains from Winchester Castle, which according to the sketches provided to aide the imagination, was one of those scary places on a hill with a big wall and lots of towers. But they sort of got rid of it and moved away. Which is when Winchester stopped mattering so much, but it's still very cute and worth a visit. There are many more photos on picasa.
Plus they sell canned oxe tongue in the grocery store.
5 comments:
You youngsters may not realize this, but there was a hit song called Winchester Cathedral:
Winchester Cathedral
You're bringin' me down
You stood there and watched as
My baby left town
You could've done something
But you didn't try
You didn't do nothing
You let her walk by
Now everyone knows just how much I need her, that girl (are you that girl)
She wouldn't have gone far away if only you'd started ringing your bell
And the alternative lyrics (some didn't like the original:
Winchester Cathedral - You're drivin' me mad
I don't know who sings it - But it's mighty sad
I'll really be glad when - This song disappears
It set music back now - At least fifty years.
Now everyone knows - Just how much we needed a hit
And now that it's done all I say - I hope that the world is ready for it
Winchester Cathedral - You're doin' me dirt
They finally wrote one - That we couldn't hurt.
From old London town came this song - There ain't any doubt
This English import - believe me
I know that we'll go on livin' without - da-dee-doo-dee
Winchester Cathedral - By now you have died
Tho' we didn't kill you - We certainly tried.
I also heard whistling in my head while reading the Winchester Cathedral article. I couldn't help it. I'm old. I think the whistled verses of the song are what drove people mad.
It the pictures on Picasa, the one of the roundabout - did somebody draw a face in the white circle, or am I imaging that (along with hearing whistling in my head)?
I don't know what's scarier, that fact that someone wrote a song called Winchester Cathedral or that fact that it was popular enough for you both to think of it. And I looked again at the roundabout, and it has some sort of markings that could potentially be seen as a face, but I don't think it is an actual face.
I still thing IT (Stephen King) is haunting that roundabout. Maybe all roundabouts are haunted. Take more roundabout pictures!
The roundabout closest to me is certainly haunted. This morning there appeared to be some sort of backed up drainage pipe underneath so it was actual bubbling up water when it wasn't even raining. Not on the side where you would expect the drainage to be, but right in the middle. It was kind of eery.
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