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Sample Tours

Tour Starts 09:00am.

1.        Depart Gosport.

2.       Arrive Bishop’s Waltham Palace.

Bishop’s Waltham was at the peak of its importance during the medieval period when it was the seat of the bishops of Winchester. The last Bishop of Winchester to reside at Bishop’s Waltham left in a dung cart disguised as a farm labourer! He was escaping from Oliver Cromwell’s troops after unsuccessfully defending his palace, which was torn down and never rebuilt. The palace once stood in an enormous park of some 10000 acres. Most of the remains seen today date from the 12^th and 14^th centuries. There are substantial parts of the Great Hall and three-storey tower, and the moat which once surrounded the palace can be seen in places. A brick wall which once encircled the palace is still in place. Nearby is the abbot’s fish pond. Conservation is now complete on part of the north-east range of guest rooms, latterly a farmhouse. Inside is an exhibition on the history of Bishop’s Waltham Palace.

3.        Depart Bishop’s Waltham.

4.        Arrive Winchester.

In Saxon times, Winchester was a major ecclesiastical centre’ the capital of England and an important royal residence. Today the city retains more of its medieval character and buildings than any other town in the United Kingdom. Winchester Cathedral, begun in 1079, was extensively rebuilt in the 14^th and 15^th centuries and is particularly noteworthy for its magnificent choir stalls [(1305-1310) and the oldest survivors of their kind in the country] and spectacular 15^th century stone reredos. At 169 metres (556 feet) it is the longest medieval church in Europe. It is notable for its outstanding transepts and nave and for its many fine monuments. Highlights in the nave are a rare black- marble Tournai front, the tomb of Jane Austen, and the outstanding Wykeham’s Chantry. William Rufus is said to rest beneath the tower, while the bones of early kings, Canute and Egbert, lie in mortuary chests in the cathedral. In the Norman crypt is the tomb of Saint Swithun. In the cathedral close is the Pilgrims’ Hall, which has a 14^th century hammerbeam roof. Winchester College, founded in 1382, became the model for England’s public schools, and many of the original buildings are still in use. A path across water-meadows leads to the Hospital of St Cross, the oldest almshouses in England, founded in 1136. In Castle Street is the fine medieval Great Hall, all that survives of Winchester’s castle. The famous Round Table (traditionally, but inaccurately, associated with King Arthur) hangs on the west wall.

5.        Depart Winchester.

6.        Arrive Gosport.  

Price : £80.00

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