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Winchester Cathedral - England's Most Beautiful Cathedral

England has many beautiful cathedrals, but in
my opinion, Winchester Cathedral is withoutBut perhaps the most famous bishop of
doubt the most beautiful. Its scale,Winchester was St Swithin. Not much is known
architecture and setting make it unrivalled.about him except that he became bishop in
And, if that wasn't enough, the cathedral852. We do know that he died on July 2 862
happens to be in England's most preserved andand was buried, at his request, in the
picturesque  city.churchyard so that "the sweet rain of heaven
may fall upon my grave". Later his body was
Winchester has been a place of importance forremoved for reburial, which was against his
over 2 millennia. After the conversion todying wish. Legend has it that it rained for
Christianity, the people of Wessex built a40 days. To this present day we have the
place of worship on the sport where thesuperstition that if it rains on St Swithin's
present cathedral now stands. The recordedday  we  are  in  for  40  more  wet  days.
church is from about AD 169 when Lucius,
'King of the Britons', converted toBuilding of the present day cathedral began
Christianity. He made Winchester is seat ofin 1079. It was built in the baroque style.
power and the cathedral the centre of worshipThe cathedral's diocese once stretched from
for  his  people.London to The Channel Islands. The cathedral
was originally occupied by Benedictine monks,
Not much is known about the first church; ithowever they were removed during the
was destroyed and rebuilt several times overReformation; you can still see parts of the
the next few hundred years as pagan andremains of the monastic buildings in the
Christian warlords fought for control overCathedral  Close.
the area. This era of uncertainty was finally
ended in 635 when king Kynegils defeated theCentral to the life of the monks was the opus
Saxon king, Cerdic. The king destroyed thedei (the Work of God), the regular offering
pagan temple 'Dagon' and laid the foundationof prayer, which they sang in the choir. This
stones for his Christian church. From thattradition still carries on at the cathedral.
day onwards, there as been a Christian placeThe choir is now comprised of boys from the
of  worship  on  this  same  spot.Pilgrim's School, which is adjacent to the
cathedral. The Winchester choir now enjoys a
King Alfred the Great was probably the mostworld  wide  reputation  for  its  music.
famous patron of the cathedral. Alfred -
after many setbacks - defeated the Danes thusMany famous people have been connected with
preventing the southern half of England fromWinchester College. Queen Mary married Philip
Viking rule. Upon his victory he was crownedof Spain in the cathedral. For people
King of England in the cathedral and madenowadays, the most famous person associated
Winchester his home and capital of thewith Winchester Cathedral is Jane Austen, the
ancient kingdom of Wessex. Nothing nownovelist. Jane Austen was born in Hampshire
remains  of  Alfred's  cathedral.and lived most of her life in the county. She
spent the last year of her life in
Winchester was once the ancient capital ofWinchester. Her tomb is inside the cathedral.
England and, even after it was surpassed by
London, it remained an important city. ManyThe power and wealth that once belonged to
of the Bishop's of Winchester were men ofWinchester Cathedral is still palpable but
importance and wealth. One it's greatesttoday it has a gentile and tranquil character
bishops was William of Wykeham. He becameto it. It still serves as a place of worship
bishop in 1366 and was twice Chancellor offor the local population as well as a
England, Founder of Winchester College andbeautiful spot in which to picnic in its
New  College  Oxford.delightful gardens.



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