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My first stop was Jane Austen's house in Chawton in Hampshire. Photography
wasn't allowed inside but I took some pictures of the outside and the
gardens.
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In the window towards the street two mannequins in period dress provide
a little zeitgeist to passers-by.
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The garden was in immaculate condition.
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| Or at least as immaculate as the weather allowed. These roses
look rather bedraggled. They still smelled heavenly, though. |
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On these borage flowers the drops actually add to the effect
of the blue star-shaped flowers. Borage, Borago officinalis, has
a reputation as a mild antidepressant. Whether you believe it or not, freezing
the flowers in ice cubes and using them in summer drinks is a hit. They
taste a bit like cucumbers. |
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Winchester makes a lot of its history and rightly so. The
town has been settled by more or less every invader who ever landed on these
shores. It began with the Celts, the Romans made it a civitas, missionaries
from Rome had their way with the town starting in the seventh century and
except for some Danish sacking and looting the Saxon king Alfred made it
his capital in the tenth century and in 1066 King Harold's widow surrendered
the town to the Normans. Then there were a number of civil wars and periods
of civil unrest that touched upon Winchester. Luckily for the town London
became the capital in the thirteenth century. Still during the Civil War
in the seventeenth century the town was occupied and looted by both armies
several times. The scoundrel Cromwell finally demolished the castle a few
years after the end of the war.
The sculpture shows Alfred of Wessex, a.k.a Alfred the Great. He ruled from
Winchester between 871 and 899. This sculpture was raised in 1901 to commemorate
what was then thought to be the millennium of his death. |
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Another aspect of Winchester's long history is the cathedral.
Here is a path beneath its flying buttresses. Jane Austen is buried in the
cathedral, so it's worth a pilgrimage for all her dear readers regardless
of their religion. She died in Winchester in 1817. |
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These red doors into the cathedral look very regal and lovely with the
golden rivets. The inside is impressive too, it's one of those churches
you can actually get lost in. The plaque showing Jane Austen's place of
burial was a bit of a disappointment. It doesn't even mention that she
was considered one of England's foremost authors when she died.
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Less regal but no less historical are these imps on the cathedral
roof. |
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Walking up the High Street I was struck by the many historical merchant
signs. This one belongs to a stationers.
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This is Westgate, one of the five city gates that Winchester
used to have. Were it not for the gate, we would be looking down the High
Street. |
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