Cathedral

No, this isn't about the Crosby, Stills, and Nash song. It's triggered by Hammer's post with the 1966 song "Winchester Cathedral". Winchester, and its cathedral are seriously cool.


Photo credit: Neil Alderney, via Flickr.

The crypt floods. In fact, the whole building was so unstable that the original bell tower collapsed, and things got so bad that the entire building was only saved by heroic efforts at the beginning of the 20th century. William Walker donned diving gear and hand-placed 25,000 bags of concrete on the foundation. In complete darkness. In 20 feet of water.

That's Sir William Walker, who was knighted for his efforts by a grateful King George.

There's been a cathedral on this site since the dark ages. Winchester was the seat of the ancient Wessex kings, and to this day you'll see "mortuary chests" that contain their bones. Of course, William the Conqueror put an end to Anglo-Saxon Britain in 1066. This building dates from soon after that, replacing the older cathedral structure, and was intended to impress (and cow) the populace.
Photo credit: Franz St., via Flickr.

It impresses. Most American visitors to Britain will visit Westminster Abbey, and maybe Salisbury Cathedral. Nothing wrong with them, but it's a crying shame to miss Winchester. It's the longest nave in the world.

We visited several cathedrals, that year we lived in Blighty: Canterbury, Chichester, St. Paul's, Salisbury, York. This was my favorite. Yes, I'm old enough to remember the song that Hammer posted. Yes, it played in the back of my head the first time we went there. We went back, because it's that impressive.


Photo credit: Neil Alderney, via Flickr. I have one almost identical to this, but haven't scanned it.

Winchester (the town) is worth spending some time in. It's an old Market Town, which (as explanation to both my American readers) is a big deal. It's not just that there's a farmer's market every Saturday; these were chartered by the King, and date back to at least the 13th century. They have elaborate structures called "Market Crosses" which look just like this.

It's a beautiful town, in a beautiful setting on the river Itchen. We should have (but didn't) go to the restaurant that was in the 15th century building. Alas, the children were too small, and Winchester was too far away from home to comfortably leave them with a baby sitter.

That was a great year, that one when we lived in England. It was too short, but we grabbed the opportunity to see the land. The kids were small, portable, and great travelers. Somewhere I have a picture of #1 Son in the pulpit of the cathedral, which deserves a post of its own.