Editing Winchester (section)

==History==
===Prehistory===
The area around Winchester has been inhabited since [[Prehistoric Britain|prehistoric times]], with three [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] [[Hillforts in Britain|hillforts]], [[Oram's Arbour]], [[St Catherine's Hill, Hampshire|St. Catherine's Hill]], and Worthy Down all nearby. In the [[Late Iron Age]], a more urban settlement type developed, known as an ''[[oppidum]]'', although the archaeology of this phase remains obscure.

The settlement became an important centre for the [[Belgae#Britain|British Belgae]] tribe; however, it remains unclear how the Belgae came to control the initial settlement. Caesar recorded the tribe had crossed the channel as raiders (probably in the 1st century BCE), only to later establish themselves.<ref>[[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 5#12|5.2]]</ref> The Roman account of continental invaders has been challenged in recent years with scientific studies favouring a gradual change through increased trade links rather than migration.<ref>Julius Caesar, ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' [[Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 2#4|2.4]]</ref><ref>Cunliffe, Barry W., ''Iron Age Communities in Britain, Fourth Edition: An Account of England, Scotland and Wales from the Seventh Century BC, Until the Roman Conquest'', near Figure 1.4, 2012 (4th edition), Routledge, [https://books.google.com/books?id=v1Zkio7jluAC&dq=Britons+Iron+Age&pg=PT676] google preview, with no page numbers]</ref><ref>[[Sheppard Frere]], ''Britannia: a History of Roman Britain'', third edition, Pimlico, 1987; John Creighton, ''Coins and power in Late Iron Age Britain'', Cambridge University Press, 2000</ref>

To the Celtic Britons, the settlement was probably known as '''Wentā''' or '''Venta''' (from a common [[Common Brittonic|Celtic word]] meaning "tribal town" or "meeting place").<ref>Matasović, Ranko. [http://iedo.brillonline.nl/dictionaries/lemma.html?id=17429 "wentā" in the ''Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic'' at ''Indo-European Etymological Dictionaries Online''. Brill Online, 2014. Accessed 24 July 2014.]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> An etymology connected with the Celtic word for "white" ([[Welsh language|Modern Welsh]] ''gwyn'') has been suggested, due to Winchester's situation upon chalk.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Long |first1=Henry Lawes |title=Observations Upon Certain Roman Roads and Towns in the South of Britain |year=2016 |orig-date=1836 |publisher=Palala Press (originally published by Nichols and sons) |location=Oxford University |isbn=978-1354701065 |page=26 |access-date=17 October 2018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iGUGAAAAQAAJ}}</ref> It was the Latinised versions of this name, together with that of the tribe that gave the town its Roman name of '''Venta Belgarum'''.

===Roman period===
{{Main|Venta Belgarum}}
After the [[Roman conquest of Britain]], the settlement served as the capital ({{langx|la|civitas}}) of the Belgae and was distinguished as '''Venta Belgarum''', "Venta of the Belgae". Although in the early years of the Roman province it was of subsidiary importance to [[Calleva Atrebatum|Silchester]] and [[Noviomagus Reginorum|Chichester]], Venta eclipsed them both by the latter half of the second century.<ref>Cunliffe B. ''Wessex to AD 1000'' 1997</ref> At the beginning of the third century, Winchester was given protective [[Winchester city walls|stone walls]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historic-uk.com/DestinationsUK/Winchester.htm |title=Winchester |publisher=Historic-uk.com |access-date=26 October 2012}}</ref> At around this time the city covered an area of {{convert|144|acres}}, making it among the largest towns in Roman Britain by surface area.<ref name="Roman towns">{{cite web|title=Major Roman Settlements|url=http://www.british-towns.net/maps/roman-roads-map|publisher=British towns|access-date=18 June 2014|archive-date=7 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907185237/http://www.british-towns.net/maps/roman-roads-map|url-status=dead}}</ref> There was a limited suburban area outside the walls.<ref>{{cite web|title=PJO archaeology|url=http://www.pjoarchaeology.co.uk/academic-consultancy/report-winchester-roman-cemeteries-and-suburbs.html|access-date=22 January 2011|archive-date=9 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009205044/http://www.pjoarchaeology.co.uk/academic-consultancy/report-winchester-roman-cemeteries-and-suburbs.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Like many other Roman towns however, Winchester began to decline in the later fourth century.<ref name="Roman towns"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.localhistories.org/winchester.html|title=A History of Winchester |publisher=Localhistories.org |access-date=26 October 2012}}</ref>

===Post-Roman===
Despite the [[Roman withdrawal from Britain]], urban life continued much as it had done into the mid fifth century. The settlement was reduced in size, but work was carried out to improve the city's defences. The city may have functioned as a centre for a religious community or a royal palace, as they continued to use the Christian cemeteries established in the Roman period.

Winchester appears in early [[Welsh literature]] and is commonly identified as the city of {{nowrap|'''Cair Guinntguic'''}} listed among the [[Caer#Britain|28 cities of Britain]] in the ''[[History of the Britons]]'' (commonly attributed to [[Nennius]]).<ref>[[Nennius]] ({{abbr|attrib.|Traditional attribution}}). [[Theodor Mommsen]] ({{abbr|ed.|Editor}}). [[s:la:Historia Brittonum#VI. CIVITATES BRITANNIAE|''Historia Brittonum'', VI.]] Composed after AD&nbsp;830. {{in lang|la}} Hosted at [[s:la:Main Page|Latin Wikisource]].</ref><ref name=nashford>Ford, David Nash. "[http://www.britannia.com/history/ebk/articles/nenniuscities.html The 28 Cities of Britain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415120312/http://www.britannia.com/history/ebk/articles/nenniuscities.html |date=15 April 2016 }}" at Britannia. 2000.</ref> The city is known as '''Caerwynt''' in [[History of the Welsh language|Modern Welsh]].

Between 476 and 517 AD, the town and surrounding areas seem to have been fortified by several [[Jutes|Jutish]] settlements<ref>The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Worthy Park, Kingsworthy, Near Winchester, Hampshire (Oxford University School of Archaeology Monograph, 59). Hawkes, Sonia Chadwick (2003).</ref><ref>Two Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries at Winnall, Winchester, Hampshire. Meaney, Audrey Lillian and Hawkes, Sonia Chadwick. (Society for Medieval Archaeology, 1970).</ref>{{Efn|At Kings Worthy, Abbots Worthy, Martyrs Worthy, Itchen Abbas and Itchen Stoke.}} and to have operated as part of a larger polity.<ref>An Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Twyford, Near Winchester. Dinwiddy, Kirsten Egging. Proc. Hampshire Field Club Archaeol. Soc. 66, 2011, 75-126 (Hampshire Studies 2011).</ref>

===Anglo-Saxon===
[[File:Winchester-alfred-wyrdlight.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Statue of Alfred the Great, Winchester|Statue of Alfred the Great]] by [[Hamo Thornycroft]] in Winchester]]

[[File:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - Wintan ceastre (British Library Cotton MS Tiberius A VI, folio 12r).jpg|thumb|left|A mention of Wintanceaster (here spelled ''Ƿintan ceastre'') in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'']]
The city became known as '''Wintanceaster''' ("Fort Venta") in [[Old English]].<ref name="Anglo-Saxon Dictionary">{{cite web|title=Wintan-ceaster|url=http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/035936|website=Anglo Saxon Dictionary|publisher=Bosworth-Toller|access-date=18 June 2014}}</ref> In 648, [[King Cenwalh of Wessex]] erected the Church of St Peter and St Paul, later known as the [[Old Minster]]. This became a cathedral in the 660s when the West Saxon bishop's see was transferred from [[Dorchester on Thames]]. The present form of the city dates from reconstruction in the late 9th century, when [[King Alfred the Great]] obliterated the Roman street plan in favour of a new grid in order to provide better defence against the [[Viking invasions of Britain|Vikings]]. The city's first mint appears to date from this period.<ref name=WB>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England|year=2014|edition=2nd|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|isbn=978-0-631-22492-1|title=Winchester|first=John|last=Crook|editor=Lapidge, Michael |display-editors=etal }}</ref>

In the early 10th century there were two new ecclesiastical establishments: the convent of [[Nunnaminster]], founded by Alfred's widow [[Ealhswith]],<ref>*{{cite encyclopedia |first=Marios|last =Costambeys | publisher = Oxford University Press | encyclopedia= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | title= Ealhswith (d. 902)| year = 2004 | url =http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39226 | access-date= 21 June 2014|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/39226 }} {{ODNBsub}}</ref> and the [[New Minster]]. Bishop [[Æthelwold of Winchester]] was a leading figure in the monastic reform movement of the later 10th century. He expelled the secular canons of both minsters and replaced them with monks. He created the drainage system, the "Lockburn", which served as the town drain until 1875, and still survives. Also in the late 10th century, the Old Minster was enlarged as a centre of the cult of the 9th century [[Bishop of Winchester]], Saint [[Swithun]]. The three minsters were the home of what architectural historian John Crook describes as "the supreme artistic achievements" of the ''Winchester School''.<ref name=WB/>

The consensus among historians of Anglo-Saxon England is that the court was mobile in this period and there was no fixed capital.<ref>{{cite book |last= Stenton|first= Frank M.|author-link=Frank Stenton| title= Anglo-Saxon England|year= 1971|edition=3rd| publisher= Clarendon Press|page=539|isbn=978-0-19-280139-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Foot | first = Sarah | author-link=Sarah Foot| title=Æthelstan: the first king of England|publisher=Yale University Press| year = 2011 |page=78|isbn= 978-0-300-12535-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Naismith |first=Rory |title=Citadel of the Saxons: The Rise of Early London|page=11 |publisher=I. B. Tauris |location =London, UK |year=2019|isbn=978-1-3501-3568-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor1-first=Ryan|editor1-last=Lvelle |editor2-first=Simon|editor2-last=Roffey | editor3-first=Katherine|editor3-last=Weikert |title=Early Medieval Winchester: Communities, Authority and Power in an Urban Space, c.800-c.1200 |publisher=Oxbow Books |location =Oxford, UK |year=2021|page=4|isbn=978-1-78925-623-9|quote= Contrary to popular belief, though, Winchester has never been a 'capital' of England, or even of Winchester}}</ref> [[Martin Biddle]] has suggested that Winchester was a centre for royal administration in the 7th and 8th centuries, but this is questioned by [[Barbara Yorke]], who sees it as significant that the shire was named after Hamtun, the forerunner of [[Southampton]].<ref>{{cite journal| last= Yorke|first=Barbara |author-link= Barbara Yorke|journal=Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society |title=The Foundation of the Old Minster and the Status of Winchester in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries|number=38 |year=1982 |pages=79–80 |issn= 0142-8950}}</ref> However, Winchester is described by the historian Catherine Cubitt as "the premier city of the West Saxon kingdom"<ref>{{cite book|first=Catherine|last=Cubitt|chapter=Pastoral Care and Religious Belief|page=399|title=A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland c.500- c.1100|editor-first=Pauline|editor-last=Stafford|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Chichester, UK|year=2009|isbn=978-1-118-42513-8}}</ref> and [[Janet Nelson]] describes London and Winchester as Alfred the Great's "proto-capitals".<ref>{{cite book|last=Nelson|first=Janet|chapter=Power and authority at the Court of Alfred|editor1-last= Roberts|editor1-first= and |editor2-last= Nelson|editor2-first=Janet|title= Essays on Anglo-Saxon and Related Themes in Memory of Lynne Grundy|pages=327–28|location=London|year= 2000|publisher=King's College London Centre for Late Antique & Medieval Studies|isbn= 978-0-9522119-9-0}}</ref>

===High and later Middle Ages===
There was a fire in the city in 1141 during the [[Rout of Winchester]]. In the 14th century, [[William of Wykeham]] played a role in the city's restoration. As [[Bishop of Winchester]] he was responsible for much of the current structure of the cathedral, and he founded the still extant public school [[Winchester College]]. During the [[Middle Ages]], the city was an important centre of the wool trade, before going into a slow decline.{{Citation needed|date=August 2016}} The [[curfew bell]] in the bell tower (near the clock in the picture), still sounds at 8:00 pm each evening.
[[File:Winchester High Street Mudie 1853.jpg|thumb|Winchester High Street in the mid 19th century.]]

Jews lived in Winchester from at least 1148, and in the 13th century the Jewish community in the city was one of the most important in England. There was an [[Archa (document store)|archa]] in the city, and the [[Jewish quarter (diaspora)|Jewish quarter]] was located in the city's heart (present day Jewry street). There were a series of [[blood libel]] claims against the Jewish community in the 1220s and 1230s, which was probably the cause of the hanging of the community's leader, Abraham Pinch, in front of the synagogue of which he was the head. [[Simon de Montfort]] ransacked the Jewish quarter in 1264, and in 1290 all Jews were [[Edict of Expulsion|expelled]] from England.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Jewish Community of Winchester |url=https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/winchester |publisher=The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot |access-date=2 July 2018 |archive-date=2 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702122324/https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/winchester |url-status=dead }}</ref>  A statue of [[Licoricia of Winchester]], described as "the most important Jewish woman in medieval England", located in Jewry Street, was unveiled by the then Prince of Wales on 10 February 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.visitwinchester.co.uk/blog/licoricia-of-winchester-statue-unveiled/|title=Licoricia of Winchester statue unveiled - Latest news from Visit Winchester}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Abrams |first=Rebecca |title=Licoricia of Winchester:  Power and Prejudice in Medieval England |publisher=The Licoricia of Winchester Appeal |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-3999-1638-7 |edition=1st |location=Winchester |publication-date=2022 |pages=xiii |language=en}}</ref>

===Modern period===

[[File:The Buttercross in Winchester.jpg|thumb|left|The Winchester [[Buttercross]] ]]

The City Cross (also known as the [[Buttercross]]) has been dated to the 15th century, and features 12 statues of the [[Virgin Mary]], other saints and various historical figures. Several statues appear to have been added throughout the structure's history. In 1770, [[Thomas Dummer]] purchased the Buttercross from the Corporation of Winchester, intending to have it re-erected at [[Cranbury Park]], near [[Otterbourne]]. When his workmen arrived to dismantle the cross, they were prevented from doing so by the people of the city, who "organised a small riot",<ref>{{cite web |title= The Buttercross, Winchester |url=http://www.cityofwinchester.co.uk/history/html/buttercross.html |year= 1998| publisher= City of Winchester |access-date= 23 September 2009}}</ref> and they were forced to abandon their task. The agreement with the city was cancelled and Dummer erected a [[lath and plaster]] facsimile, which stood in the park for about sixty years before it was destroyed by the weather.<ref name = "Yonge8">{{cite web |last=Yonge |first=Charlotte M. |title= Chapter 8: Old Otterbourne |url= http://www.online-literature.com/charlotte-yonge/john-keble/8/ |year= 1898|work= [[John Keble]]'s Parishes |publisher= Online literature |access-date=23 September 2009 |author-link = Charlotte M. Yonge}}</ref> The Buttercross itself was restored by [[George Gilbert Scott]] in 1865, and still stands in the High Street. It is now a [[Scheduled Ancient Monument]].<ref>{{NHLE |desc= City Cross or 'Butter Cross', Winchester |num=1002938 | access-date= 16 December 2016}}</ref>
[[File:City walls, Winchester - geograph.org.uk - 1221306.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Surviving part of the [[Winchester city walls|city walls]] between [[Wolvesey Castle]] and the [[River Itchen, Hampshire|River Itchen]]. This section retains some battlements.]]
The [[Winchester city walls|city walls]] were originally built in the Roman period covering an area of around {{cvt|138|acres}}, and were rebuilt and expanded in sections over time. A large portion of the city walls, built on Roman foundations, were demolished in the 18th and 19th centuries as they fell into ruin and the gates became a barrier to traffic and a danger to pedestrians, with only a small portion of the original Roman wall itself surviving.<ref>{{citation|first=Barry|last=Cunliffe|title=The Winchester City Wall|date=1962|journal=Hampshire Field Club Proceedings|volume=22|pages=51–81|url=http://www.hantsfieldclub.org.uk/publications/hampshirestudies/digital/1960s/vol22/Cunliffe_city_wall.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://www.hantsfieldclub.org.uk/publications/hampshirestudies/digital/1960s/vol22/Cunliffe_city_wall.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live|publisher=[[Hampshire Field Club]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://hampshirearchaeology.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/buried-in-time-roman-walls-and-medieval-gates/|title=Buried in time – Roman walls and Medieval gates|access-date=18 October 2020|first=David W|last=Hallen|date=1 February 2016}}</ref> Of the six gates (North, South, East, West, Durn, and King's Gates), only the [[Kingsgate, Winchester|Kingsgate]] and [[Westgate, Winchester|Westgate]] survive, with sections of the walls remaining around the two gates and near the ruins of [[Wolvesey Castle]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Winchester Castle and Town Walls {{!}} South East {{!}} Castles, Forts and Battles|url=http://www.castlesfortsbattles.co.uk/south_east/winchester_castle_town_walls.html|access-date=19 October 2020|website=www.castlesfortsbattles.co.uk|archive-date=10 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810074453/http://www.castlesfortsbattles.co.uk/south_east/winchester_castle_town_walls.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Three notable bronze sculptures can be seen in or from the High Street by major sculptors of the 19th and 20th centuries, the earliest a monumental statue of [[Queen Victoria]], now in the [[Great hall]], by Sir [[Alfred Gilbert]] (also known as the sculptor of '[[Eros]]' in London's Piccadilly Circus), [[King Alfred]], facing the city with raised sword from the centre of The Broadway, by [[Hamo Thornycroft]] and the modern striking ''[[Horse and Rider (Frink)|Horse and Rider]]'' by [[Dame Elizabeth Frink]] at the entrance to the Law Courts.

The novelist [[Jane Austen]] died in Winchester on 18 July 1817 and is buried in the cathedral.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jane Austen 'died from arsenic poisoning'|url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/14/jane-austen-arsenic-poisoning |access-date=18 June 2014 |work=The Guardian |date=14 November 2011}}</ref> While staying in Winchester from mid-August to October 1819, the Romantic poet [[John Keats]] wrote "Isabella", "St. Agnes' Eve", "[[To Autumn]]", "Lamia" and parts of "[[Hyperion (poem)|Hyperion]]" and the five-act poetic tragedy "Otho The Great".<ref>{{cite news| title= John Keats – autumnal idealist or trenchant social commentator? | url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/mar/23/john-keats-autumnal-idealist-social-commentator|access-date=18 June 2014|work=The Guardian| date=23 March 2012}}</ref>

In 2013, businesses involved in the housing market were reported by a local newspaper as saying that the city's architectural and historical interest, and its fast links to other towns and cities, had led Winchester to become one of the most expensive and desirable areas of the country and{{Fix|text=who?}} ranked Winchester as one of the least deprived areas in England and Wales.<ref name=WinchesterGreatest>{{cite news|title=Winchester hits top ten list of places to live in the UK|url=http://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/10898665.Winchester_hits_top_ten_list_of_places_to_live_in_the_UK/|access-date=18 June 2014 |work=Hampshire Chronicle |date=26 December 2013}}</ref>