The Great Hall, Winchester, England

The Great Hall is the only surviving part of the old Winchester Castle in England. William the Conqueror built the castle, one of the first Norman castles. Through the ravages of time (mostly war), the castle is gone except for a few bits here and there. The hall is the only still-used part of the castle extant.

Entrance to the Great Hall

Interior of the Great Hall

A sign gives the history of the hall, from its founding in 1067 up to the present.

History!

One wall lists all of the members of Parliament from Winchester through the years, with the occasional name of a monarch thrown in for context.

1600s to 1800s

Recently added to the hall (in 1980s) are the Marriage Gates. These were installed to celebrate the marriage of (then) Prince Charles to Diana Spencer. They connect the hall to the law courts and offices right next door.

Marriage Gates

Just outside the hall is Queen Eleanor's Garden, named after two Eleanors, one from Provence and one from Castile, both from the late 1200s/early 1300s.

Intro to the garden

A cozy table

Flowers

A fountain

Chairs were set up for the lord of the castle inside the Great Hall.

Not sitting here

A large statue of Queen Victoria sits in the corner. It was created in 1887 to celebrate her golden jubilee. 

Queen Victoria

Queen Elizabeth II is commemorated in a bronze bas-relief from 2013 to celebrate her diamond jubilee. She is framed by the Hampshire Rose.

Queen Elizabeth II

On the back hall is a 13th century recreation of King Arthur's Round Table. During his reign, Henry VIII had it painted with the names of King Arthur's knights. Also, he had King Arthur depicted, though the face is clearly Henry's (when he was younger).

The Round Table, but not the Round Table

A table shows a model of Winchester Castle back in the day along with the city around it.

Winchester

The castle

Outside are some of the passageways from the castle. They are now underground and quite dark inside. It's unclear what they are used for.

More of the castle

We saw this art installation nearby and later found out it is the Hampshire Jubilee Sculpture. It also celebrates the recent Queen's jubilee.

Hampshire Jubilee Sculpture

The Buttercross Monument is on the High Street in Winchester. It dates back to the 1400s and was part of a market place where people sold their goods. Presumably butter was among those goods. Now people just hang out there.

Buttercross Monument