Helen and Mark took me to the beautiful and historic city of Winchester yesterday. It was so much fun and I learned so much cool stuff about King Alfred and about the mysterious King Arthur of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table. So I'll jump right into it!
The first thing we did was look at the statue of King Alfred the Great that over looks Winchester's High Street. He is a much beloved hero in England as his greatest accomplishment was defeating the Vikings and capturing the formerly Mercian city of London. He also revived education for the Anglo-Saxon people of Wessex. He did a lot of great things for England at this time, between approximately AD 871-901. I thought it was also interesting that Winchester was England's capital before the rise of London, and all great trials, royal marriages/funerals, and special occasions happened in Winchester.
Next we went to visit the gorgeous Winchester Cathedral. The history of this church dates back for over fifteen centuries. With a church this old, you can expect lots of interesting things to have happened here: Jane Austen was buried here, oddly enough, before she had had much recognition for her books; Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry Vlll, was married here; the Winchester Bible is housed here and is said to be the largest and finest of the few surviving 12th Century Bibles today. Unfortunately we didn't go in because the entry price was a little steep (don't get me started on charging money to enter a church...), but I was able to get a few pictures from the entrance.
Here is the parliament tree engraved on the walls.
After we spent a little bit of time around the church grounds, we walked over the the Great Hall. King Arthur of Camelot will always be a mystery to the world. There is 500 years between the time Arthur is said to have lived and the time that we was actually written about, and there was no mention of a Round Table under many years later by a French writer. Scholars wonder if Arthur actually existed in some way because the style that George Monmouth used to write about King Arthur was not the style that fictional stories were written in at the time.
Crests of knights and kings
The Great Hall is absolutely beautiful. The crests of knights and kings are engraved in the stained glass windows and on the side opposite of the hanging Round Table is a tree of all of the members of parliament dating back for centuries. It's just incredible. A statue of Queen Victoria stands in the corner along with a few other historical pieces. I was just in awe the whole time I was there.
We went to a history museum after and got to see lots of cool stuff about the development of England over the centuries, like the beginnings of metal working and coinage. It was very cool to see old stone tapestries, clothing, medicine, and artifacts that have been collected over the years.
Winchester Guild Hall
Next we went to visit the gorgeous Winchester Cathedral. The history of this church dates back for over fifteen centuries. With a church this old, you can expect lots of interesting things to have happened here: Jane Austen was buried here, oddly enough, before she had had much recognition for her books; Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry Vlll, was married here; the Winchester Bible is housed here and is said to be the largest and finest of the few surviving 12th Century Bibles today. Unfortunately we didn't go in because the entry price was a little steep (don't get me started on charging money to enter a church...), but I was able to get a few pictures from the entrance.
The Round Table was made in the 1270's during Edward l's reign and then painted and refurbished during Henry Vlll's reign.
After we spent a little bit of time around the church grounds, we walked over the the Great Hall. King Arthur of Camelot will always be a mystery to the world. There is 500 years between the time Arthur is said to have lived and the time that we was actually written about, and there was no mention of a Round Table under many years later by a French writer. Scholars wonder if Arthur actually existed in some way because the style that George Monmouth used to write about King Arthur was not the style that fictional stories were written in at the time.
The Great Hall is absolutely beautiful. The crests of knights and kings are engraved in the stained glass windows and on the side opposite of the hanging Round Table is a tree of all of the members of parliament dating back for centuries. It's just incredible. A statue of Queen Victoria stands in the corner along with a few other historical pieces. I was just in awe the whole time I was there.
We went to a history museum after and got to see lots of cool stuff about the development of England over the centuries, like the beginnings of metal working and coinage. It was very cool to see old stone tapestries, clothing, medicine, and artifacts that have been collected over the years.
Overall, Winchester is just an awesome city. There's lots of good shopping and coffee shops along high street and the weather was just perfect yesterday. I like how modern clothing shops are housed in the old buildings. It was such a great day!
Hope y'all enjoyed it!
Bethany
Hope y'all enjoyed it!
Bethany
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