A few days in Hampshire

We have spent the last few days staying in Hampshire with family. We have had a lovely time, and have also done quite a bit of sight-seeing.

On the first day, we went to Stonehenge. Very crowded, but I'm glad we got there before all the Summer Solstace gatherings. These were reported on the news a few days later, and it sounds very big!!
It's hard to get a concept of the sheer size of the stones from the viewpoint from which we could see them. Staggering to think of how they might have been moved to the position in which we find them. Some have been identified as coming from hundereds of miles away, and might have been transported by sea and then rolled over logs inland. Massive pieces of stones, which were then shaped to the requirements of the people and assembled. Some have "knobs" carved into them to interlock with other stones. Remarkable really.

In the afternoon, we went across to Salisbury and walked through the town. Another Cathedral here. Some very new additions within the ancient buidling; have a look at the water feature in the nave.

As we walked back through the town, we also stopped to look at the Church of St Thomas, nearby. This one has fifteenth century painting over the chancel arch, and also medieval murals around the wall of the Lady Chapel.

Friday was my "Jane Austen" day. It began with a drive to Chawton, and a tour of the house there in which Jane Austen lived with her family. Chawton is a very pretty Hampshire village. In the Jane Austen museum, there is a lot of memorabilia relating to the Austen family. They were obviously a very close family, particularly Jane and her sister Cassandra.

We went from there to Winchester, to yet another Cathedral (still finding them interesting - each one is so unique). This was Winchester Cathedral. We began our tour with a visit to the Crypt, which was very interesting as Winchester Cathedral is built very low and close to the water table. The crypt frequently floods; the water marks are plainly visible. As the Cathedral was built on swamp, its original timber foundations began to sink in the late nineteenth century. A diver spent around 7 years replacing the timber foundations with concrete from 1906 to 1911. The crypt also contains 3 Roman wells, and a number of ancient stone sarcophagi from the burial grounds of the original church. A modern sculpture, "Sound II" by Anthony Gormley stands at the entrance to the crypt.

The west windows of the Cathedral were unusual; they have a very "piecemeal" appearance. This is because they were destroyed by the Puritans under Oliver Cromwell, and then the glass was pieced together and returned to the window following the restoration of the monarchy.

In the nave is the tomb of Jane Austen, together with a window dedicated to her. Further up, in the north transept, there is a chapel still retaining medieval painting on the walls and ceiling, whilst in the trinity chapel the largest area of medieval decorated floor tiles remaining in England can be seen. As I said, each Cathedral has its own areas of interest.

Winchester is a lovely old town. We walked from the Cathedral, up through the town centre to the Great Hall. There are some remains of the old castle there, but really only the Great Hall is left. On the wall is a round table, created in the fourteenth century and decorated in Henry VIII's time. The table has the names of the knights from the King Arthur legends painted around it.

Saturday was a very pleasant day; much more restful. In the morning we walked into the village of Odiham and then we had a family lunch.

Sunday was the last real day of sightseeing, and it wasn't wasted! We went to Portsmouth to the historical docks where there are several museums, as well as the nineteenth century ship Warrior, Nelson's ship Victory and the recovered wreck of the Tudor warship Mary Rose. Boat tours of the harbour are also available. The hull of the Mary Rose is being treated with a water based wax solution, and this process can be viewed through glass panelling. This was a really interesting display. Warrior and Victory are both open for viewing, and can be walked through - which, of course, we did! It gives you a real sense of the closeness of the conditions for the crew on the gun decks. They are both beautiful ships. We also saw the enourmous surviving top sail of the Victory.
We finished this visit with a boat tour of the harbour......from old to new; we saw several modern warships from the British fleet.

This morning, it was packing. There was just time for a walk along the canal in Odiham to a very pretty little lake. One last look at the English countryside. Hampshire is another lovely part of the country.