Bells Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester | Page 8

houses within the close are of widely different dates, from the Early English period to recent years. They comprise the official residences of the dean and the canons, together with some private houses. The changes made from time to time in the distribution of the ground have involved the disappearance of the old priory buildings, and it is not possible to trace with certainty their original form. The laying out of the close has concealed the ground plan of the cloisters which once adjoined the cathedral. What is now called by the name is the passage between the south transept and the former chapter-house, which was pulled down in 1570 by the destructive Bishop Horne, in order, it is said, that the lead in the roof might be sold. Five extremely fine Early Norman arches which were once part of the chapter-house still remain, and may be seen in a line with the end of the slype, beyond the south transept. Some traces of small arches on what is now the extreme outer wall of the transept mark where arcading once ran along the inner wall of the chapter-house. No vestige of the roof remains. The "slype" is a passage which was cut through the southern buttress by Bishop Curle, to put a stop to the constant use of the nave and south aisle as a thoroughfare by the townspeople. The anagrams on the walls commemorate the purpose of the passage; the first, on the western arch, reading:--
ILL\ PREC\ \ \ >AC >ATOR / / H/ AMBULA VI/
and that over the eastern arch:--
/ACR\ S\ ILL\ CH\ / \ \ \ \ S< >A >IT >A >ORO[1] \ / / / / \ERV/ S/ IST/ F/
In the angle of an old extension of the chapter-house south wall are traces of the dormitory and infirmary which formerly stood there. The Early English doorway with Purbeck marble shafts seems to have led to this dormitory. To the south of this is the deanery or prior's hall, the acute external arches, which date from the reign of Henry III., forming a vestibule with a southern aspect, while above are some narrow lancet-windows. Although the original portion of this hall dates from the fifteenth century, it was considerably altered in the seventeenth, during the second Charles's reign. This king himself sometimes stayed at the deanery, where Philip of Spain lodged for one night before his marriage. Over a wooden building, which now serves as the dean's stables, is an ornamental timber roof of late thirteenth-century work, which was once part of the old pilgrims' or strangers' hall originally standing in this part of the close for the benefit of pilgrims to the shrine of S. Swithun.
[1] Illac precator, hac viator ambula (That way thou that prayest, this way thou that passest by, walk); Sacra sit illa choro, serva sit ista foro (That way is sacred to the Choir, that for use to the market-place).
In the south wall of the cathedral, close to the west front, there is a doorway which is reported to have led to the chapel and charnel-house mentioned by Leland. "S. Swithin, now called Trinity," he says, "stands on the south side of the town, and there is a chapelle with a carnarie at the west end of it." S. Swithin is, of course, the cathedral itself. Leland's other carnary, which must not be confused with this, was attached to a chapel "on the north side of S. Mary Abbey church at Winchester, in an area thereby, on which men entre by a certen steppes. One Inkepenne, a gentilman that berith in his shield a scheker sylver and sables, was founder of it. There be three tumbes of marble of prestes custodes of the chapelle."
Among the old houses which have vanished from the close is one in which Charles II. in vain requested Bishop Ken to allow Nell Gwynne to lodge; and one which was erected for her and not pulled down until this century. The cathedral precincts, however, still contain on the southern side several buildings well worthy of notice. A picturesque house yet standing is that which was known by the name of Cheyney Court. It now serves as a porter's lodge, and stands by the wooden-doored gateway which opens into Kingsgate Street. The doors are supposed to have come down to us from the thirteenth century. Previously this lodge was the courthouse of the Soke of Winchester, and the centre of the episcopal jurisdiction here. The old timbered front, with its barge-boards, was in 1886 concealed behind a rough-cast cement coating, but in that year this was fortunately stripped away, and the present charming aspect revealed to the eye.
[Illustration: SOUTHERN SIDE OF CATHEDRAL, FROM DEANERY GARDEN. S.B. Bolas & Co., Photo.]
#The Exterior.#--It would be difficult to deny that the