Years ago, I used to write all sorts on here about holidays, weekends away and days out. The truth is, I don’t get to do any of that any more. It’s been almost a decade since I had even a short holiday close to home.
Last weekend however, I had two cancellations due to tourists from hot counties feeling unable to go on a tour with me. Having waited for years to have a day out, I picked a place I had long wanted to visit. The old City of Winchester is somewhere I have wanted to visit for decades and there isn’t much of an excuse for not having done so given it is only about 60 miles from home but as PM Harold Wilson once said… Events my dear boy, events!
There are so many things I’ve wanted to see in Winchester which has its origins as a Roman settlement. In fact it’s one of the safer rules of British history that when a places has “ester” in it then it is Roman. Cirencester, Gloucester, Chichester, Winchester and plan though lovely Chester.
I only had a few hours and I had a lot to fit in but as usual with me, I got diverted as soon as I arrived by a wonderful old memorial. At first I thought it might be a WW1 memorial but on closer inspection it was much older.
This is the Winchester Memorial to the Plague as it was a couple of centuries ago, in the background you can see the Western Gate to the city which is still there today.
Understandably with the Plague about and cities being deathtraps for anyone who goes into them, traders were unwilling to go inside the gates and sell their wares.
The cross is actually built on an old stone and it is said that when the Plague was ravaging Winchester, citizens would leave coins in bowls of vinegar on the stone to pay for essential foods which the traders would leave on the stone.
This though was only the beginning of the at times astonishing things I found in Winchester and I will be detailing some of them in the coming weeks.
If you’d like to know more what life was like during the Plague when a village cut itself off from the world then take a look at Eyam – The Plague Village of Self Sacrifice
I enjoyed Winchester so much I’ve created an official Winchester Tour through Ye Olde England Tours. If you’re visiting the U.K. and would like to spend a day in this truly beautiful old city then check it out on the link above or indeed below!
Stephen Liddell 
I’ve missed this when I’ve been to Winchester, I’ll have to look it up if I make it back. Did you wander round the old barracks converted to housing/apartments? I said I’d quite fancy living there, but a quick look at Winchester house prices had me back to earth with a bump!
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Yes the cross is between the railway station and the Great Hall so if you drive to Winchester you can easily miss it. I didn’t get to the barracks or the cottage where Jane Austen died. Like you I am planning a return visit! I did go peek in to some old Alms houses though. I too had a look at the house prices in Winchester. At least for once I can say they are almost worth it. It’s a thoroughly lovely city.
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