Medieval Winchester is still very much in evidence in the way it is laid out. The city’s grid system of streets developed from what was laid out in the late 9th C.[i] Although many buildings have disappeared and new ones built in subsequent periods, there those still standing with medieval significance. This is not only the ecclesiastical buildings but the city gates, a 15th C market cross, part of the medieval wall along with the street names and grid layout. In the cathedral close is Pilgrim’s Hall with its hammer beam ceiling (dated c.1308), 15th/16th C Cheyney Court, and the old stables. The ruins of Wolvesey Castle and the thriving Winchester College are significant reminders of Winchester’s status in England’s history.
15th/16th C Cheyney Court in the Cathedral Close
Cheyney Court was once the court of the bishop who had jurisdiction over the east Soke (suburb) of Winchester as well as other manors held. The name Cheyney is after the oak, beneath which the court was originally held.[ii]
Church of St Maurice
What remains of the Church of St Maurice is only a 15th C tower with its now open Norman arch linking the High Street with the area towards the cathedral. St Maurice is a patron saint of weavers, dyers and cloth makers. This patronage illustrates the importance of the once thriving medieval trade with a church dedicated to him in the market area. A statue of St Maurice is also present on the Butter Cross (15th C market cross) in the High Street.
The Medieval City Wall, Gates & River Itchen
The antiquary John Leland (c. 1503-1552) wrote topographical descriptions of the parts of England and Wales he visited from c. 1538 to 1543. He described the city of Winchester as:
The circumference of the town wall at Winchester is about a mile and a half, and the distance from east to west is greater than from north to south. The wall has six gates: North, South, East and West; the King’s Gate, between the South Gate and Wolvesey, the bishop’s palace; and Bourne Gate, a small postern between North Gate and East Gate. The castle adjoins West Gate on its south side.
The cathedral church and the close lie on the south side of the town, occupying an area (with the cemetery) nearly half a mile in circumference. From near King’s Gate almost to East Gate the limit of the town is marked first by the close wall and then by the wall of Wolvesey castle or palace. The palace is well fortified, and nearly surrounded by water.[iii]
(Note: Bourne Gate is likely ‘Dorne’ or Durn Gate, which is listed as one of the 6 gates of Winchester – now just a carpark).
River Itchen
River Itchen on the east side of the city looking towards the city Mill
The sign reads:
In pre-historic times the Itchen flowed in two main channels in the centre of the river valley, near the Cathedral. Following the foundation of the Roman town, about 70 AD, this new artificial channel was created. This both reduced the chance of flooding in the town centre and provided an eastern defensive moat.
In the medieval period the river was nearly twice as wide as today.
The City Mill
Winchester City Mill
There was a mill on the site from the Anglo-Saxon period, which suggests there was a Roman one originally. Although it was rebuilt in 1744, there are structural timbers dating back to the 14th and 15th C.[iv]
Date Stone on City Mill
Chesil Rectory
Chesil rectory, just east of the city and river, dates to c. 1425-1450. The street level has been built up over time, and entering one steps down into the building. It was built by a wealthy merchant originally. I can recommend dinner there! Link: Chesil Rectory Winchester
Chesil Rectory
Wolvesey Castle & Winchester School
Wolvesey Castle, the bishop’s palace sits at the east of the city near the river Itchen. It was a defensive stronghold, not just a residence for the bishops of Winchester. Nearby, outside the city walls in College Street is Winchester College. I will cover both in later posts.
THE CITY GATES
The city gates that are standing today are the King’s Gate and West Gate.
WEST GATE: A Defensive Gate
This gates dates from 12th C and was later remodelled.
West Gate side facing out of the city
The west face was added in the 14th C to defend the city against threatened invasion from France. The loops below the shields were designed for primitive hand-held cannons, and the slots in the gateway arch held a portcullis.
Arms of England alongside the City of Winchester Arms: Gules two leopards or set feesewise and facing one another between five castles or set saltirewise.
Machicolations to drop stones, arrows, burning oil, etc. upon any invaders trying to breach the gate.
View from the top of West Gate towards the city
View from the top of West Gate towards the Castle (now just the Great Hall)
West Gate inner face
The east side of the gate was built in the 12th C and rebuilt in the 13th C. The three buttresses have niches in them, maybe for statues. The room above the arch was originally a guard room. It served as a debtors’ prison from the 16th to the 18th C and is now the museum. Museum Link: West Gate Museum
A PROCESSIONAL GATE: The King’s Gate
Kingsgate
The King’s Gate links the way into the Cathedral Close to the bishop’s palace of Wolvesey. This gate has been altered and restored. The main arch and supporting buttresses date from the 14th C. The gate first appears in records in 1148.[v] The first storey is a chapel, St Swithun’s-upon-Kingsgate.
Stair leads to St Swithun-upon-Kingsgate Chapel
St Swithun’s-upon-Kingsgate Chancel
The King’s Gate and West Gate were part of the ceremonial ritual of the opening (and presumably closing) of St Giles Fair.
The bishop would leave Wolvesey Castle (his palace) in procession at sunrise on the eve of the feast of St Giles. The feast of St Giles is the 1st of September. The procession would include the justices of the Pavilion court, as the bishop had jurisdiction over the fair. They would ride to the South Gate or the King’s Gate and there was a ceremonial handing over of the keys to the gate to the bishop’s party. They would then ride to the West Gate and the keys for that gate were handed over.[vi]
OTHER GATES OF WINCHESTER
Besides the gates that surrounded the city there are other divisions. One is Thomasgate that separated the secular city from the cathedral precinct.
Thomasesgate
Thomasesgate Sign
St Michael’s Gate?
John Leland mentions St Michael’s Gate in his description of Winchester:
Ancient writers speak of St Michael’s Gate, but the name is now not in use. St Michael’s Church is besides King’s Gate, and so I conjecture that this was once called St Michael’s Gate, or else it was South Gate.[viii]
Prior’s Gate
Prior’s Gate from outside of the Cathedral Close
Prior’s Gate in 2015 – original 15th C doors
Once through the King’s Gate towards the city and a turn to the right is Prior’s Gate. This leads into the cathedral close. It is 15th C and with the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom over the four-centred arch.[vii]
SUMMARY
This post is just an introduction to the medieval city as there is so much more to it.
NOTES
[i] Counties and Wales: Winchester’, Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516, (Centre for Metropolitan History), < https://archives.history.ac.uk/gazetteer/gazweb2.html> [accessed 10 February 2025].
[ii] ‘Winchester: The ancient custom’, in A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 5, ed. William Page (London, 1912), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol5/pp44-50 [accessed 5 March 2025].
[iii] John Chandler, John Leland’s Itinerary Travels in Tudor England (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1993), p. 199.
[iv] ‘The history of Winchester City Mill’, National Trust, <https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/hampshire/winchester-city-mill/the-history-of-winchester-city-mill> [accessed 3 March 2025].
[v] Frank Barlow, ‘Winchester in the Early Middles Ages: An Edition and Discussion of the Winton Domesday’, Winchester Studies, Issue 1, ed. Martin Biddle (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1976), p. 133.
[vi] G.W. Kitchin, ed. A Charter of Edward the Third Confirming and Enlarging the Privileges of St. Giles Fair, Winchester, A.D. 1349, Hampshire Record Society, vol.6, pt. 2 (1886), pp. 26-42.
[vii] ‘Close Boundary Wall and Gates Priors Gate’, Historic England List Entry 1095512, (1950), <https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1095512?section=official-list-entry> [accessed 3 March 2025].
[viii] Chandler, p. 201.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barlow, Frank, ‘Winchester in the Early Middles Ages: An Edition and Discussion of the Winton Domesday’, Winchester Studies, Issue 1, ed. Martin Biddle (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1976)
Chandler, John, John Leland’s Itinerary Travels in Tudor England, (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1993)
Kitchin, G.W., ed. A Charter of Edward the Third Confirming and Enlarging the Privileges of St. Giles Fair, Winchester, A.D. 1349, Hampshire Record Society, vol.6, pt. 2 (1886), pp. 26-42