England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Winchester Cathedral

The Parish

Winchester Cathedral is the highlight of the ancient city of Winchester, a Roman foundation in central Hampshire. Winchester is one of Britain's oldest settlements reputedly founded by Celtic Britons during the Bronze Age. The Cathedral Close occupies just a small area of the city to the south of the main crossroads.. Winchester is dominated by two factors, the River Itchen which winds its way through eastern Winchester and the mighty Cathedral which overshadows the whole city. Standing about 40 metres above sea level in what would have been a broad chalk stream valley before settlement came to the city, it is now a bustling metropolis and home to the Hampshire Record Office. The Cathedral & its close are a small area of a few acres of extra-parochial land in the centre of the mediaeval city.

The Church

The Cathedral lies in the southeast of the city surrounded by housing and businesses and offering few views until you enter the precincts of the close itself. Then its true magnificence is revealed. The cathedral is massive, at 556 in length it is the longest in Europe but it is only 78 feet tall hence the lack of distant views. The building, as you would expect, takes many pages of Pevsner to adequately describe and it would be impossible in this short paragraph to do it true justice. The building work began soon after the Norman Conquest, the oldest date is 1079 and the building was added to until the 16th century. Subsequently there were at least 5 restorations ranging from significant to minor resulting in the present building. I would only like to state that the result is a magnificent edifice and a true gem of Britain.