Round The World and other travel

March 2016: Winchester

The small city of Winchester is the county town of Hampshire. It occupies a central position in the area, about twelve miles from the much larger city of Southampton. Winchester is also one of the historic cathedral cities of England.

Winchester Cathedral, dating from Norman times, is among the largest in Europe. Its squat central tower - a replacement for the original, which collapsed in the 12th century - seems out of proportion with the rest of the building, and in my opinion this detracts from the overall external appearance of the structure. On the inside, in contrast, the soaring nave ceiling challenges the impression given minutes earlier, on the outside, that the cathedral may be too low-rise for its own good. The crypt contains a modern shrine to St Swithun (often written Swithin, but apparently not in Winchester), a 9th-century bishop of this diocese whose feast-day weather, according to tradition, will continue for forty days.

Elsewhere in Winchester's compact central area, notable sights include the Buttercross, Gurkha Museum, Great Hall, City Museum and Guildhall.