Winchester | Page 4

matter of fact, Professor Earle and other authorities assure us that
the legend is fictitious, and that the translation was attended by the
utmost éclat and success, and blessed with fine weather.
[Illustration: WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL FROM THE DEANERY
GARDENS]
Foreign pilgrims coming from Normandy and Brittany, on their way to
the shrine of St. Swithun, or to that of St. Thomas of Canterbury, would
land, many of them, at Southampton, and journey to Winchester, there
to await other bands of pilgrims bound for the great Kentish shrine.
This was the route taken by Henry II when he did penance before the
tomb of the murdered Becket, in July, 1174. Although clearly seen in
the wold of Surrey and the weald of Kent at the present time, it must be
confessed that but faint traces of the Pilgrims' Way remain in
Hampshire, although early chroniclers speak of an old road that led

direct from Winchester to Canterbury. The great concourse of pilgrims
to St. Swithun's shrine caused Bishop Lucy to enlarge much of the
church, and in the reign of the first Edward the building still known as
the Strangers' Hall was erected by the monks of St. Swithun for the
poorer class of pilgrims, who here found food and shelter for the night.
On their departure they repaired to the doors of the Prior's lodging--the
three beautiful arches of which now form the entrance to the
Deanery--where they were given alms and fragments of food to sustain
them on their journey.
The associations of Alfred with this ancient Wessex capital are many
and various. He founded the famous Abbey of Hyde, situated without
the city gates, known for long as the New Minster, and first removed
from its original site near the cathedral in the twelfth century. That
Alfred's remains were laid to rest somewhere within, or just without,
the walls is beyond question, although the exact spot has not yet been
definitely located. When the Benedictine monks of Hyde obtained a
charter from Henry I in 1110, giving them leave to erect a new convent
and church in the green meadows outside the north gate, they are said
to have taken to their new home the wonder-working shrine of St. Josse,
the silver cross given by Canute, and the bones of Alfred.
At the Reformation, Thomas Wriothesley wrote to Cromwell saying:--
"We intend both at Hyde and St. Mary to sweep away all the rotten
bones that be called relics; which we may not omit, lest it be thought
we came more for the treasure than for the avoiding of th' abomination
of idolatry".
So the resting-place of the noblest of English kings remains unknown;
but a passing antiquary is said to have carried off a stone marked with
the words, "ÆLFRED REX, DCCCLXXXI", and this stone may still be
seen at Corby Castle in Cumberland.
Of Hyde Abbey nothing but an old gateway near St. Bartholomew's
Church, and some slight fragments of wall, remain; but a considerable
portion was standing until the ruins were pulled down to provide the
site for a new Bridewell, which has vanished in its turn. The property
has now come into the hands of the Corporation, and scientific
excavations have been commenced. Strong hopes are entertained that
Alfred's tomb may be found, although the iconoclasts of the
Reformation and the Magistrates of later days have made the task a

difficult, if not an impossible one. In 1901 Alfred's thousandth
anniversary was celebrated at Winchester, and on September 20 of that
year Lord Rosebery unveiled Hamo Thorneycroft's magnificent bronze
statue, standing in the Broadway, and bearing on its granite pedestal the
single word, eloquent in its simplicity:--
AELFRED.
Interesting and important as are the associations of Alfred and St.
Swithun with this ancient capital of Wessex, the genius loci is William
of Wykeham, one of the most remarkable men the world has ever
produced. The more we study his life and character the more we are
amazed at the versatile nature of his splendid gifts. Born, like Wolsey,
the only other clerical architect with whom he can be compared, of
humble parents, in the sleepy little village of Wickham, in the autumn
of 1324, he early attracted the attention of Sir John Scures, the lord of
the manor of Wickham, and Constable of Winchester Castle. By Sir
John's influence he became a scholar at the Priory School, the "Great
Grammar School of Winchester", then situated just outside the west
wall of the priory enclosure. Taught by the brethren of St. Swithun's, he
was eventually recommended to Bishop Edington, who appears to have
appreciated the great talent for architecture shown by young Wykeham.
Edington himself was no mean builder, and he had already begun to
rebuild the west front of the cathedral, and to transform the nave