HRAFNSLITH

Winchester

 

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Winchester seems to have been abandoned after the romans left. When the Saxons arrived in the 6th century a small number of them may have lived in wooden huts within the walls and farmed the land outside. However Winchester ceased to be a town. The Saxons called a Roman settlement a caester and they called Venta Belgarum, Venta Caester. In time this was changed to Wintancester and eventually became corrupted to Winchester.

From 597 monks from Rome began the task of converting Southern England to Christianity. In the mid 7th century a Minster church called the Old Minister was built inside the Roman walls of Winchester. (A Minster church is one with a monastery attached). It was later known as the Old Minster. In 676 the Bishop of Wessex moved his seat to Winchester and the Old Minster became a cathedral.

Late in the 9th century Alfred the Great revived the old Roman town. To defend his kingdom he formed a network of fortified places where men could gather to fight the Danes whenever necessary. Alfred often repaired and revived old Roman towns for this purpose. Winchester was rebuilt with the streets laid out in a grid pattern and people were encourage to come and live there. Soon Saxon Winchester was flourishing.

In 901 Alfred's successor founded a second Minster church in Winchester, called the New Minster. In 903 Alfred's widow founded a nunnery known as the Nunnaminster. (It was later called St Marys Abbey). Later in the 10th century the monastery attached to the Old Minster church was reformed and became St Swithun's Priory.

In the 10th century the New Minster, St Swithun's Priory and the Nunnaminster were centres of art and learning. They were famous for their illuminated manuscripts (decorated books), jewellery, embroidery and metalwork.

From the 10th century there was a mint in the town. Winchester may have had a population of about 8,000 and there were suburbs outside Westgate and Northgate. There was also a Royal Palace in Winchester. It was probably built in the early 10th century. #1

Resources #1 taken from information provided by Tim Lamberts 'A Short History of Winchester'