Winchester: The Heart of the Ancient Capital Walking Tour

Discover the history of Winchester on a guided walking tour. See the City Bridge, City Mill, and the River Itchen. Visit the City Walls and the Medieval Cheyney Court.
Discover the heart of the ancient capital of Winchester on a guided tour. Explore the city's medieval streets, see the City Bridge, and visit the Cathedral, the oldest in England.

Start at the King Alfred’s statue and walk along the High Street where life started some 2,500 years ago. Pass by the Mayor’s official residence, Abbey House, and see the excavated remains of St Mary’s Abbey, founded by Alfred’s Queen in the early 10th century.

Continue to the river and see the City Bridge built by St Swithun, the 9th-century bishop and patron saint of Winchester. The current structure, built in 1813, is thought to occupy the same site. Across the road is the City Mill and the River Itchen, which provided part of the eastern defenses of the city by forming a moat.

Proceed to Wharf Mill, which is on the site of a medieval mill, and visit the best-preserved part of the City Walls to their full medieval height. Continue to Wolvesey Castle, the Medieval bishops’ complex that occupied the entire area now used as playing fields.

Opposite is Winchester College, founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and believed to be the oldest continuously running school in England. Cross College Street and continue to the main college gate and past the headmaster’s house. The next building, now a private residence, is where Jane Austen spent her final weeks receiving medical care.

At the end of College Street, turn right to face Kingsgate with the tiny church of St Swithun above. Continue through the gateway to the Close Wall, first built in Saxon times to separate the monastic communities from the rest of the town.

Visit the Medieval Cheyney Court, where bishops met to hear legal cases involving the areas they controlled, known as the Soke. Pass the medieval stables, now used as music rooms, and see the main buildings of Pilgrims’ School.

Ahead is the Deanery, originally built in the 13th century as the home of the prior of the cathedral. Go through the 13th-century doorway a little further on and up the steps to Dean Garnier Garden, where interpretive panels explain the cathedral architecture and the plan of the close.

Continue towards the cathedral and see the massive columns marking the entrance to the former Chapter House. At the west front of the cathedral, the stone in the wall indicates the extent of the Norman westwork, demolished around 1300.

Turn past the west front to the site of the Old Minster dating from the 7th century, now marked out in brick. Cross the site of the New Minster church, built on the instructions of Alfred the Great, then turn left before the Wessex Hotel towards the tower of St Maurice’s Covert where the tour ends.

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