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Page 7
A striking object hanging at one end of the hall is the top of the
reputed Round Table of King Arthur, painted in radiating white and green
sections, with a portrait of the famous king inset, crowned and robed,
and the Tudor rose in the centre, while around the circumference are
the names of the knights in old black-letter characters. Doubtful though
it is that the table is the actual one that figures in the Arthurian
legends, yet it is certainly of great antiquity, and has been frequently
referred to by more than one writer of mediaeval days. It has been
conjectured that it may be nothing more than the wheel of fortune which
Henry III commanded to be made for the castle. In later years another
palace was started here by Charles II, the only portion that was
completed being now used as barracks.
Beyond the West Gate is an obelisk, set up in commemoration of a
visitation of the Plague in 1669, when the country people brought their
produce and left it outside the gate to be taken in by the city
dwellers, who deposited the money for the goods in bowls of vinegar,
whence it was abstracted by pincers, to avoid infection. The stone on
which the exchanges were made is incorporated in the base of the
obelisk.
The West Gate is the only one that remains of the principal entrances to
the city, as King's Gate, with the little church of St. Swithun perched
on top, was of secondary importance. This West Gate escaped the fate
that has overtaken so many of our old city gates owing to its having
been used for some time as a smoking room for the adjacent hotel. This
apartment above the crown of the gateway arch is, like that over the
West Gate of Canterbury, used for the purposes of a museum, wherein are
deposited such interesting relics as the Winchester bushel, cloth
measures, and ancient instruments of punishment. At one time the room
was used as a prison, and the walls are covered with names or marks made
by those who were incarcerated here.
The gate is of fourteenth-century date, the two panels with armorial
bearings seen on the western side of the archway being later insertions.
Through the gateway a delightful view is obtained of the picturesque
High Street, with many a high-pitched gable rising above the masses of
irregular architecture; while an ancient clock on a wooden bracket juts
out from the old Queen Anne Guildhall, which has a statue of Her Majesty
over the entrance, the Curfew Tower rising on one side of the building.
A new Guildhall of greater architectural pretensions has been erected in
the Broadway, the original one being now used as a shop.
[Illustration: THE BUTTER CROSS]
From the West Gate the High Street slopes down to the Itchen. On the
right stands the old Butter Cross, in rather a cramped position. Two
reasons have been given for its name: one, that during Lent, those
wishing to eat butter could do so by consuming it by the cross; the
other, and more probable, explanation is that here came farmers wishing
to dispose of their butter, which they exposed for sale on the steps
of the cross. The structure is of fifteenth-century date, but has been
much restored, the only original figure on it being that of St.
Amphibalus. Just beside the cross is the interesting little opening that
leads into the Close, and in which is the entrance to St. Lawrence
Church, of which nothing is visible from this point but the doorway, and
the tower rising above the surrounding houses. This church has been said
to be the Mother Church of the diocese of Winchester, an idea that may
have owed its origin to the fact that before proceeding to the Cathedral
to be enthroned the bishops designate enter this ancient church to robe
and "ring themselves in". Only the other day, May 6, 1911, Dr. Talbot
followed this old custom, and the people listened eagerly for the number
of rings, as these are supposed to denote the number of years the bishop
will be at the head of the diocese. It may be of interest to chronicle
that Dr. Talbot rang nine times.
Near the church at one time was an open space called the Square, where
were situated the Pillory and Whipping Post. The palace of William I is
said to have occupied this site, and St. Lawrence's Church may possibly
have been the private chapel of the royal residence. A fragment of
Norman masonry gives a certain amount of probability to the
supposition, while at the beginning of last century some workmen
excavating in Market Street came across the foundations of an ancient
tower, of great thickness and strength. The present arched and narrow
entrance from High Street leads to the fine avenue of limes that forms
the principal approach to the west front of the Cathedral, begun by
Edington _circa_ 1360, the severe simplicity of which has been much
criticized, Ruskin assailing it furiously in the _Stones of Venice_. On
the apex of the gable is a canopied niche containing a statue of
Wykeham.
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