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Page 4
At the Reformation the shrine was destroyed, as is recorded in the
commissioners' letter, dated September 21, 1538:--
"About three o'clock this Saturday morning, we made an end of the
shrine here at Winchester. There was no gold, nor ring, nor true
stone about it, but all great counterfeits; but the silver alone
will amount to 2000 marks."
The popular tradition regarding St. Swithun's Day, July 15, is to the
effect that, as it rains or is fair on this day, the ensuing forty days
will be either wet or dry.
"St. Swithun's Day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain:
St. Swithun's Day, if thou be fair,
For forty days 't will rain nae mair."
The tradition is said to be due to the saintly request being
disregarded, with the result that, when his remains were about to be
translated, a heavy rain burst forth, and continued without ceasing for
the forty succeeding days. This was interpreted as a divine warning, so
that, instead of disturbing the saintly bones, a chapel was erected over
them. As a matter of fact, Professor Earle and other authorities assure
us that the legend is fictitious, and that the translation was attended
by the utmost �clat and success, and blessed with fine weather.
[Illustration: WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL FROM THE DEANERY GARDENS]
Foreign pilgrims coming from Normandy and Brittany, on their way to the
shrine of St. Swithun, or to that of St. Thomas of Canterbury, would
land, many of them, at Southampton, and journey to Winchester, there
to await other bands of pilgrims bound for the great Kentish shrine.
This was the route taken by Henry II when he did penance before the tomb
of the murdered Becket, in July, 1174. Although clearly seen in the wold
of Surrey and the weald of Kent at the present time, it must be
confessed that but faint traces of the Pilgrims' Way remain in
Hampshire, although early chroniclers speak of an old road that led
direct from Winchester to Canterbury. The great concourse of pilgrims to
St. Swithun's shrine caused Bishop Lucy to enlarge much of the church,
and in the reign of the first Edward the building still known as the
Strangers' Hall was erected by the monks of St. Swithun for the poorer
class of pilgrims, who here found food and shelter for the night. On
their departure they repaired to the doors of the Prior's lodging--the
three beautiful arches of which now form the entrance to the
Deanery--where they were given alms and fragments of food to sustain
them on their journey.
The associations of Alfred with this ancient Wessex capital are many and
various. He founded the famous Abbey of Hyde, situated without the city
gates, known for long as the New Minster, and first removed from its
original site near the cathedral in the twelfth century. That Alfred's
remains were laid to rest somewhere within, or just without, the walls
is beyond question, although the exact spot has not yet been
definitely located. When the Benedictine monks of Hyde obtained a
charter from Henry I in 1110, giving them leave to erect a new convent
and church in the green meadows outside the north gate, they are said to
have taken to their new home the wonder-working shrine of St. Josse, the
silver cross given by Canute, and the bones of Alfred.
At the Reformation, Thomas Wriothesley wrote to Cromwell saying:--
"We intend both at Hyde and St. Mary to sweep away all the rotten
bones that be called relics; which we may not omit, lest it be
thought we came more for the treasure than for the avoiding of th'
abomination of idolatry".
So the resting-place of the noblest of English kings remains unknown;
but a passing antiquary is said to have carried off a stone marked with
the words, "�LFRED REX, DCCCLXXXI", and this stone may still be seen at
Corby Castle in Cumberland.
Of Hyde Abbey nothing but an old gateway near St. Bartholomew's Church,
and some slight fragments of wall, remain; but a considerable portion
was standing until the ruins were pulled down to provide the site for a
new Bridewell, which has vanished in its turn. The property has now come
into the hands of the Corporation, and scientific excavations have been
commenced. Strong hopes are entertained that Alfred's tomb may be
found, although the iconoclasts of the Reformation and the Magistrates
of later days have made the task a difficult, if not an impossible one.
In 1901 Alfred's thousandth anniversary was celebrated at Winchester,
and on September 20 of that year Lord Rosebery unveiled Hamo
Thorneycroft's magnificent bronze statue, standing in the Broadway, and
bearing on its granite pedestal the single word, eloquent in its
simplicity:--
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