Winchester History
The Roman Town
The Romans founded Winchester. They invaded England in 43 AD and about 70 AD they created a new town at Winchester. The local Celtic tribe were called the Belgares so the Romans called the town Venta Belgarum, capital of the Belgares.
The Roman town was laid out with streets in a grid pattern with a market place called a forum in the centre. The forum was lined with shops and public buildings. One of those was the public baths. The Romans didn't just go to the baths to get clean. They also went to chat and talk shop. Also in Winchester there were many temples dedicated to various gods and goddesses.
At first buildings in Winchester were made of wood but by the 3rd century the town was more prosperous. Richer people built houses of stone and they had mosaic floors and murals painted on their walls. They also had glass windows.
Roman Winchester was the 5th largest town in Roman Britain.
At first a ditch with an earth rampart surrounded Roman Winchester with a wooden palisade on top. However at the start of the 3rd century stonewalls were built around the town to give it better protection. Then in the 4th century The Roman Empire declined. In the 5th century the last Roman soldiers left Britain and Winchester was abandoned.
The Saxons in Winchester
The Saxons conquered Hampshire in the 6th century AD. When they arrived at Winchester it was probably already abandoned. A few of them may have built huts inside the old stone walls but for centuries Winchester was barely inhabited.
The Saxons called any group of Roman buildings a caester. They called this one Venta Caester. Slowly the name changed to Wintancaester and then to Winchester.
Then in the middle of the 7th century the Saxons built a church called the Old Minister inside the Roman walls. (A Minster church has a monastery attached to it). In 676 the Bishop of Winchester decided to move his base to Winchester and the Old Minister was changed into a cathedral.
However Winchester was not truly revived until the time of Alfred the Great in the late 9th century. To protect his kingdom from the Danes Alfred created a network of fortified settlements where men could gather whenever the Danes attacked. Winchester was rebuilt and Alfred encouraged people to come and live there. Soon Winchester was a thriving town once again.
In 901 Alfred's successor built a second Minster church in Winchester. It was called the New Minster. Furthermore in 903 Alfred's widow built a nunnery called the Nunnaminster. (Later it became known as St Marys Abbey). In the late 10th century the monastery attached to the Old Minster Church was reformed. It became St Swithun's Priory.
In the 10th century the monasteries and nunnery of Winchester were famous for learning and for works of art. In them jewellery was made, so was embroidery, metalwork and illuminated manuscripts (decorated books).
Meanwhile the market town of Winchester flourished. From the 10th century Winchester had its own mint and the population of the town probably reached 8,000. Little suburbs grew up outside Westgate and Northgate.
Medieval Winchester
After the Norman conquest Winchester surrendered to the Normans and life continued peacefully. William the Conqueror rebuilt the royal palace in the town. His new palace was double the size of the old one. William also built a castle on the western side of Winchester and he demolished 60 houses to make way for it! At first Winchester Castle was built of wood but later it was rebuilt in stone.
The Normans also demolished the Old Minster Cathedral and built a new Cathedral. They also rebuilt the Nunnaminster (St Marys Abbey). They also moved the New Minster monastery to a site north of the town and it became known as Hyde Hospital. (In the Middle Ages the Church ran the only 'hospitals' where monks took care of the sick as best they could). In the early 12th century Wolvesey Castle, which was the bishop's residence was built.
In the 13th century friars came to Winchester. Friars were like monks but instead of withdrawing from the world they went out to preach. Dominican Friars were called black friars because of their black costumes. They arrived in Winchester about 1230 and they lived in a building between the Itchen and Busket Street. Franciscan friars were called grey friars because of their grey costumes. They also arrived about 1230 and they lived near Eastgate. Late in the 13th century Augustinian friars and Carmelite friars arrived in Winchester.
In 1236 Winchester Castle was rebuilt. The old-fashioned square keep was replaced by a round one and glass windows were added. In the Middle Ages glass windows were a luxury and only rich people could afford them! Most people just had holes in the wall with wooden shutters that could be shut at night.
Although Winchester was a prosperous and important town it suffered from the lawlessness of the Middle Ages. In 1141 during a civil war between Stephen and Matilda a battle was fought at Winchester. The Bishop of Winchester supported Stephen and he and his men took refuge in Wolvesey castle. Matilda and her men then occupied the town. However Stephen and his men surrounded Winchester. So there was an army in the castle surrounded by an army in the town surrounded by another army outside! Matilda and her men then fought their way out but during the battle parts of Winchester were set on fire and burned down. However the town soon recovered.
In 1264 there was another civil war. This one was between the king and rebellious barons led by Simon De Monfort. The citizens of Winchester supported the king but the monks in the town supported De Monfort's faction. The monks planned to let De Monfort's forces into Winchester through the Kings Gate. However the townspeople found out and they were enraged. They killed some monks and they set fire to the Canon Gate. Even so in 1265 De Monfort's men managed to capture Winchester. They pillaged the town and they killed many Jews.
By 1200 Winchester had a mayor. It also had weekly markets and an annual fair. In the Middle Ages fairs were like markets but they were held only once a year and they attracted buyers and sellers from a wide area. Winchester's fair began on St Giles day at the end of August and it lasted for 16 days. The fair was held on a hill which became known as St Giles Hill.
In Winchester the main industry was wool. Raw wool had to be cleaned and thickened. This was done by pounding it in a mixture of clay and water. The wool was pounded by wooden hammers worked by watermills. Afterwards the wool could be woven and dyed.
However during the 13th century Winchester declined in importance as London grew and grew. In the middle of the 13th century the Winchester mint closed. Then in 1348-49 Winchester was struck by the Black Death, which probably killed half its population. Worse, the plague returned in 1361. It kept returning at intervals for centuries.
In 1382 Winchester College was founded by Richard of Wykeham and in the 15th century the Buttercross was erected in the High Street. However by the 15th century the glory days had departed from Winchester and the population was declining.
Tudor and Stuart Winchester
By 1500 the population of Winchester had fallen from its Medieval peak of about 11,000 to about 4,000. However during the 16th century it recovered a little even though Winchester suffered outbreaks of plague which killed a significant part of the population each time.
In 1518 the number of annual fairs was raised to 3 to try and increase trade but without much success. There was unemployment in Winchester in the 16th century. In 1579 in an effort to control it the council opened a house of correction where 'sturdy vagabonds' were sent to learn a trade like hat making. However it was not a success because the existing craftsmen objected to the competition.
In 1538 Henry dissolved St Marys Abbey, Hyde Abbey and St Swithun's Priory. Henry also dissolved the friaries. The land they owned was sold and the buildings were broken up and used to make new buildings in the town.
In 1554 Henry's daughter Queen Mary married the Spanish king Phillip in Winchester.
There were more outbreaks of plague in the 17th century in 1603 and in 1625. It came again in 1665-66. Fortunately that was the last outbreak.
Meanwhile in 1642 civil war broke out between king and parliament. Most of the citizens of Winchester were royalists but at the end of 1642 parliamentary troops captured the town. The council paid the soldiers for an agreement that they would not loot the town. However some soldiers looted anyway. They also vandalised Winchester cathedral. The parliamentary soldiers then withdrew from Winchester.
In November 1643 the king's army occupied Winchester. In March 1644 the royalist soldiers went to fight the parliamentarians at Cheriton Down but they were defeated. The royalists made no attempt to defend the actual town of Winchester but they left men in the castle. The parliamentary troops quickly captured the town of Winchester but they left the castle alone. The parliamentary troops then moved on. However in September 1645 Oliver Cromwell led a force which captured the town and the castle.
Not surprisingly Cromwell was not very fond of the people of Winchester as most of them were royalists. In 1649 the members of the town council were removed from their posts and in 1651 Winchester Castle was destroyed (apart from the Great Hall).
However Charles II became king in 1660 and he liked Winchester. In the late 17th century Wolvesey Castle, the bishop's old residence was in ruins so it was replaced by a palace.
Georgian and Victorian Winchester
In the 18th century many of the buildings in Winchester were rebuilt. A number of new houses were built and some old ones were given a new facade. However Winchester did not change very much during the century. It remained a quiet market town. In 1700 its population was about 4,000. By the end of the century the population of Winchester was still less than 6,000. Daniel Defoe said that Winchester as a place 'of no trade, no manufacture, no navigation' Although he said there were many rich clergymen in the town. In 1755 Horace Walpole was less than impressed by Winchester. He called it a 'paltry town and small'.
Nevertheless there were some improvements to Winchester in the 18th century. In 1711 the Guildhall was rebuilt and the Royal Hampshire County Hospital opened in 1736. In 1785 a theatre opened in Jewry Street. Meanwhile in 1771 a group of men called Paving Commissioners was formed. They had power to pave the streets of Winchester and light them with oil lamps. Furthermore during the 18th century North, East and Southgate were demolished as they were impeding traffic.
In the 19th century amenities in Winchester continued to improve. In 1838 a Corn Exchange was built where grain was bought and sold. (Today the building is used as the library). In 1846-1849 Winchester prison was built. The first museum in Winchester opened in 1847. Then in 1857 a Market Hall where fruit and vegetables were bought and sold was built. In 1868 the Royal Hampshire County Hospital moved to its present site. In 1873 a new guildhall opened.
In 1840 a teacher training college opened in Winchester. It later became King Alfred's College. Winchester Art College was founded in 1842.
In 1847 Winchester gained gas light and in 1855 a water company was formed. The following year Winchester gained a piped water supply. However Winchester did not have sewers until the 1870s.
Furthermore the 19th century was a prosperous time for Winchester. It was helped by the railway, which reached the town in 1840. That made it easier for tourists to reach Winchester and it became a popular destination. Also new industries moved to Winchester and it boomed. While Winchester only had a population of about 6,000 at the start of the 19th century by the end it had reached more than 17,000.
Modern Winchester
In 1910 a statue of King Alfred was erected in Winchester to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of his death. However historians now think they got it wrong and Alfred actually died in 899!).
During the 20th century Winchester continued to flourish. In 1914 it gained its first cinema. In 1921 a War Memorial was erected to all those who fell in the First World War.
Furthermore during the 1920s and 1930s the council built the first council houses in Winchester. By 1939 about 1,200 had been built. Then in 1938 a new by-pass was built. However it closed in 1994 when the M3 was finished.
After the Second World War the centre of Winchester was redeveloped. In 1956-57 St Georges Street was made wider and in 1956 the junction of Jewry Street and High Street was widened. Meanwhile part of Lower Brook Street and Middle Brook Street were cleared and a car park was built. The people whose houses were destroyed were given council houses. In the early 1960s the county council offices were built.
Meanwhile many more council houses were built in Winchester. Private houses were also built and in 1963 the first muti-storey flats were built in Winchester.
Winal industrial estate was begun in 1948 when Brazils sausages relocated there from the town centre. During the 1950s the industrial estate grew rapidly.
A new Police Headquarters was built in 1966. The same year Winchester Art College moved to its present building. Furthermore a new post office opened in Middle Brook Street in 1966. Then in 1974 Winchester High Street was pedestrianised.
In 1986 the Nightingale building was added to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital. River Park Leisure Centre opened in 1988. Then in 1989 Winchester cattle market closed.
The army vacated Peninsula barracks in 1985. During the 1990s military museums opened there, the Royal Hants Regiment, the Royal Hussars, the Royal Greenjackets, the Gurkhas and the Light Infantry.
In 1991 the Brooks Centre opened and in 1993 a new public records office opened in Winchester. Today Winchester is a flourishing and affluent town with a population of 35,000.