|
|
|
||
![]() | ||
|
Begun in 1079 in the Romanesque style, this Cathedral is at
the heart of Alfred's Wessex and a diocese which once stretched from
London's Thames to the Channel Islands. Its bishops were men of enormous
wealth and power, none more so than William of Wykeham, twice Chancellor of
England, Founder of Winchester College and New College Oxford. The chantry
chapels and memorials of these great prelates are a feature of the
Cathedral. These influential bishops also developed, re-fashioned and
adorned this great Cathedral. There pilgrims sought the shrine of local
saints, notably a former bishop, Saint Swithun, whose festival (15 July) was
said to set the pattern for the weather for the next forty days. |
||
|
|
||
|
All Images Copyright © 2002-2006 Robert Stainforth : All Rights Reserved |
|
|