Is Winchester the Most Beautiful Town in England?

England has many fine, historic and beautiful towns andchurch as its focal point; it has a Norman cathedral;
villages but it would be hard to find a town that couldarguably, the finest cathedral in England. The setting is
surpass Winchester in its beauty.When you think ofalso perfect. The cathedral has a park-like setting of
the quintessential ancient, historic English town, whatgrass and shady trees. In summer the vistor can picnic
does you imagination conjure up? The town would beon the lawn along with the local residents.Winchester
full of old medieval, Georgian and Victorian buildingswas once the ancient capital of Anglo-Saxon England;
that are nestled into one another. There would be athe other half of England being occupied by Vikings. It
beautiful winding river running through the centre of it.was one man who kept the southern half of England
Of course it would have a beautiful Norman church setfree of Vikings and that was King Alfred the Great. He
in a green. The roads and lanes would be small andwas a local boy, you know. He was crowned king of
intimate, crammed with delightful shops andEngland in the cathedral and lived and died in the city.
restaurants. What imagined English town would notYou can visit the spot where he was buried alongside
have a king or two buried in the church grounds:his wife and eldest son. He is the only English king to
perhaps even a saint or two. And of course it wouldhave ever been given the epitaph 'the Great'.You can
have a long association with artists and writers,also visit the tombs of other 'minor' kings of England in
beguiled by the town charms; and would it bethe cathedral.And what about the saints I mentioned
stretching the dream too far to suppose that worldearlier. Well, we've all heard about St Swithin's day and
famous writers lived, died and were buried there.If youhow, if it rains on this day it'll rain for the next 40 days.
come and visit Winchester you may think you areSt. Swithin was tutor to King Alfred and was also
dreaming, for the town has all of the above and soburied in a tomb in the cathedral. It'll be no surprise to
much more.The town is settled into the soft rolling hillsthe reader now, to be told that there are other, lesser
and meadows that are found on the edge of thesaints buried within the cathedral.The beauty of
chalk-downs in the county of Hampshire. It would beWinchester has always attracted royalty, the wealthy
fair to say that the county of Hampshire is what mostand famour people of the day. It has always been a
envisage when the think of what the English landscapemagnet for writers. Keats was a frequent visitor as
should look like. And the approach into Winchester onwas Anthony Trollope; both writer based works on the
any road is delightful.The River Itchen runs through thecity and its surroundings. Perhaps the most famous
middle of the town. In fact many tributaries andwriter who lived in Winchester was Jane Austen who
streams run through the town. In medieval times thewrote some of the most enduring novels in English.
town was famous for it's cultivation of watercressJane Austen was born in Hampshire and lived most of
(the plant is still grown outside of the town).her life in the county. She died in Winchester and was
Watercress requires water of exceptional clarity andalso buried inside the cathedral.The items of interest
purity in which to grow, and the River Itchen's water ismentioned above are just a fraction of what the visitor
crystal clear. In fact the river is so clean that when youcan find of interest in this city. There is much, much
stroll along its banks you can see the many freshmore. Even if the visitor was oblivious to the town's
water trout in the river. And I'm not lying when I tell yourich and proud history and the famous citizens who live
that you can see anglers fly-fishing in the middle of theand died there, the visitor could not miss the
town! When you walk along the many riverside walksincomparable charm and beautiful that the city has in
you will also see ducks, moorhens, swans and allabundance.
manner of wildlife.Winchester doesn't have a Normal