Winchester | Page 5

from
the Norman to the Perpendicular style, a transformation that was to be
completed by Wykeham when he succeeded his old master in the
episcopacy.
In Wykeham's twenty-third year Edward III came to Winchester, and
he, having heard of the clever young architect, wished to test his skill in
the warfare then being waged against Scotland and France, and
particularly in the new fortifications of Calais. On taking service with
the King, plain William Wykeham became Sir William de Wykeham,
and as Surveyor of Works he superintended such buildings as St.
Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, and the castles of Dover and
Queensborough. In 1356 he was in charge of Windsor Castle, which, as
his birthplace, Edward wished to beautify by many additions. It has
been said that the Round Tower Wykeham built at Windsor made the
fortune of its designer. We now find Wykeham Warden of all the royal
castles, and sub-dean of the church of St. Martins-le-Grand, on the site

of which is the General Post Office; and as a public notary he was
present at the signing of the Treaty of Bretigny.
Possibly owing to the dearth of clergy caused by the Black Death,
Wykeham, after the laying-on of hands by his old master, Bishop
Edington, became an acolyte in the December of 1361, a sub-deacon in
the March following, and priest in the June of 1362. A few years later,
when Edington was laid to rest within his cathedral, a sharp
controversy arose between the King and the Pope as to who should
succeed. The differences, which need not be discussed here, being
eventually settled to the satisfaction of both parties, Wykeham was
offered the vacant see, when he said to the King:
"Sire, I am unworthy, but wherein I am wanting myself, that will I
supply by a brood of more scholars than all the prelates of England ever
showed".
And how worthily he fulfilled his promise is a matter of history.
To quote the authors of _Historic Winchester_:
"There was a great stir in the old city when the day of Wykeham's
enthronement arrived. It was the 9th of July, and the town would be
looking especially beautiful in its bower of trees; an outrider had
announced the bishop before he entered the city, probably by the north
gate, and either here or at the entrance to the close he was met by the
Archdeacon of Northampton, William Athey by name, who was
commissioned to enthrone him: having saluted, the Archdeacon
alighted from his palfrey, which according to the custom at that time
was with all its trappings taken possession of by this ecclesiastic.... The
bishop's robing most probably took place at the priory close by, from
whence the procession, forming in the cloisters under the direction of
Hugo de Basyng, prior of St. Swithun's, would pass to the west door,
where it would be joined by the heads of the other monasteries in and
near Winchester--Thomas de Pechy, Abbot of Hyde, holding highest
rank amongst them. Next would follow long lines of monks clad in
their robes of brown, black, white, or grey, according to their order, and
then many a layman, gathered in from the country round to honour both
Church and State on this occasion. The great procession, gorgeous with
embroidered cope and many a rich vestment, with episcopal staff and
crozier both of prior and abbot carried aloft, must have formed an
imposing spectacle as it filed up the long nave of the cathedral,

thronged, doubtless, to overflowing by many citizens--for unusual
interest would be evinced by Winchester in this enthronement of one
long known to them, now Chancellor of England and certainly, next to
the King and Archbishop, the greatest man in the country."
As bishop, Wykeham found plenty to do, apart from his ecclesiastical
duties, in repairing his various palaces, and in housing the predecessors
of his Winchester scholars in a house on St. Giles's Hill, until such time
as he could give them fitting buildings and a chapel of their own. But
before Wykeham could see his schemes take an architectural form, he
was to suffer the loss of royal favour owing to the death of the Black
Prince and the rise into power of his enemy, John of Gaunt. The bishop
was charged with the misappropriation of a small sum of money, and,
judgment being given against him, the temporalities of the see of
Winchester were seized, and he was forbidden to come within twenty
miles of the Court. He retired to Waverley Abbey, of which some
picturesque ruins remain, near Farnham; and although on the King's
jubilee pardon was granted to all offenders, a special exception was
made in the case of "Sire William de Wykeham".
[Illustration: WYKEHAM'S CHANTRY]
This was more than the heads of the Church could