Winchester Catheral

Fifteen centuries of English history lie behind the massive Cathedral you see today. It stands at the heart of historic Winchester, once the seat of Anglo-Saxon and Norman royal power, on the site of an early Christian church. It’s been a place of worship ever since.

War memorial to fallen soldiers outside Winchester Cathedral in Hamsphire, UK

Have to get that reflection always.

The attention to detail ceases to amaze me.

Pay attention to your surroundings you never know what you could be missing.

Description above.

The cathedral's huge west window is made up of fragments of medieval glass put together randomly, like pique assiette mosaic work. The original panes were deliberately destroyed by Cromwell's forces following the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642. Soon after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the broken glass was gathered up and used again.

If you ever visit the Cathedral, I challenge you to find this piece.

Hint: followed by a staircase, hidden away.

"The just shall live by faith."

I myself had no idea that the Cathedral was built in the shape of the Cross, until I saw this architectural floor plan.

Admiration for these beautiful mastery works on painted glass.

Who was he?

"Erected by his sorrowing widow."

This mysterious life-size statue of a man contemplating the water held in his cupped hands is the work of the celebrated British sculptor Antony Gormley. You can find Sound II, fashioned from lead out of a plaster cast of the artist’s own body, in the Cathedral crypt, which floods during rainy months.

The English Novelist

Tribute to Jane Austen.

Did you know this casket contains real human bones...? And it's not the only one in the room...

The ornate, soaring 15th-century stone screen behind the high altar is one of the most important monuments of the period. The original painted statues that once adorned its carved niches are gone, destroyed in the Reformation, but you can see a few glorious survivals in the Triforium Gallery, including a magnificent head of God the Father.

Holy

Like a scene out of Harry Potter.

Look up to see the peculiar details you may miss otherwise.

High overhead, the Cathedral boasts over a thousand carvings in wood or stone that cover the joins between the stone ribs of its vaulted ceilings. These roof bosses range from simple 13th-century leaf designs, to elaborate Renaissance images of angels, animals and beasts, heraldic badges and emblems of Christ’s Passion.

Faith

Perched up high above all. Observing. Listening.

Who will win and rule?

The diver who saved Winchester Cathedral.

The plate reads:

To commemorate William Walker (diver)

Who saved Winchester Cathedral

1906 - 1912

Presented to the dean and chapter of Winchester Cathedral

By

The directorate of marine services (naval)

Ministry of defense (navy) on 8th May 1990.​

Siebe Gorman & Co. Ltd. was a British company that developed diving equipment and breathing equipment and worked on commercial diving and marine salvage projects. The company advertised itself as 'Submarine Engineers'. It was founded by Augustus Siebe (1788 - 15 April 1872), a German-born British engineer chiefly known for his contributions to diving equipment.

Prayer room.

The angel. The dove. The mortal.

This almost scared the life out of me when I first noticed her... an almost unseeable detail one misses at first glance. So small yet so intriguing. It is as though she participates with the crowds who come in for the service.

Wooden carvings that become creepier the longer you stare.

Many of the wooden seats in our choir stalls lift up to reveal small, exquisitely carved ledges that once allowed the monks of St Swithun’s Priory to perch, half sitting and half standing, during their long hours of worship. Featuring comical portraits, animals and plants, this collection of 14th-century misericords is one of the largest England.

Joan of Arc, a peasant girl living in medieval France, believed that God had chosen her to lead France to victory in its long-running war with England.

The Maid of Orléans known as the heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War and was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint.

Flags.

The crown. The tiger. The olive wreath.

"Model of memorial in cemetery at sandy point."

The light danced through the windows as the sun began to set

You'll come across this door when you exit the cathedral.