To say that the Cathedral, the College and the Hospital of St John are
all that remains of mediaeval Winchester would not, perhaps, be
strictly true; but it is so near the truth that one might say it
without fear of contradiction. Most of the old churches even have
perished. There remain St John Baptist, which can boast of Transitional
arcades, and fifteenth century screen and pulpit; St Maurice with a
Norman doorway; St Peter with its twelfth and thirteenth century work;
St Bartholomew with some Norman remains near the site of Hyde Abbey;
and in the High Street there is more than one fine old house. The fact
that so little remains cannot altogether be placed to the discredit of
the Reformation and the Puritan fanatics. Until the eighteenth century
something remained of Hyde Abbey, much of the Hospital of St Mary
Magdalen; the city walls were then practically perfect, having all
their five gates, north, south, east and west, and King's gate; now of
all these only the Westgate of the thirteenth century remains to us
with the King's gate over which is the little church of St Swithin.
Pages:
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414