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Winchester is inextricably linked with the legends of the Celtic King Arthur and the knights of the round table, a tradition encouraged by Henry VII who won the throne of England by conquest to found the Tudor dynasty and used the legend of King Arthur to strengthen his own hereditary claim to the throne.
When the area which is modern Hampshire was conquered by the Saxon tribe known as the Gewissas, Winchester became the capital of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex, securing its greatness in history.
Winchester's importance increased with the introduction of Christianity to England at the end of the sixth century when St Augustine arrived in Kent in 597 at the behest of the Pope. The town did not immediately become the seat of the bishop of Wessex.
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A later chronicler records that King Cynegils wished for time to build a worthy church in Winchester and that his son, Cenwalh built the 'old minster'.
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Wessex gained ascendancy over the other Saxon kingdoms of England and, when its kings became the kings of England, Winchester as their principal city became, in a sense, the capital of England although London was always bound to be a formidable rival to Winchester with its more central geographical position in the country and the great commercial advantages it possessed by virtue of its position on the river Thames.
Alfred the Great (c.871-c.901) laid out the town to a grid as the Romans had done many centuries before, made it one of his walled "burghs" and his capital. Under his rule it became a centre of learning and education visited by many distinguished people St Grimbald and the Welsh monk Asser. After the conquest of the Danish kings, Canute the Great (1017-1035) made it the centre of his government.
With Southampton only twelve miles away and one of the chief ports for the continent and particularly Normandy, and its proximity to the New Forest created by the Conqueror offering sport to the Norman kings, Winchester was a very prosperous town in the years succeeding the Norman Conquest. The omission of Winchester and London from the Conqueror's Domesday Book of 1086 is probably indicative of the peculiar position and importance of the twin capitals.
The Court of the Exchequer was held at Winchester in the reigns of Stephen and Henry II and, later, a charter of king John promised that the Exchequer and the mint should ever remain in the city.
A Saxon mint existed at Winchester in the tenth century and a charter of King John promised that the Exchequer and the mint should ever remain in Winchester. When, in 1125 all the coiners of England were tried for false coining, only those of Winchester were acquitted with honor. The mint was moved to London in the mid 13th century.
The railway reached Winchester in 1840 and allowed the town to recapture the prosperity it had sought but could not achieve since it had been the country's capital and the local medieval woollen industry had declined through competition. The ease of transport afforded by the railway encouraged new industries to the town and made it accessible to a steadily growing number of tourists.
Located 66.5 miles SWW from London on the London and South-Western Railway, Winchester was also served by the Southampton branch of Brunel's Great Western Railway, with a separate station curiously called "Winchester Chesil" in Chesil Street (now a multi-storey car park).
The track layout of the GWR line was unusual, as was the installation and the subsequent removal of a pioneering "route setting" power signalling system in the 1930s.
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In May 1885 the single track section of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Junction Railway was opened, terminating at Winchester Chesil station (on a section of line to the east and parallel to the London and South Western Railway line) and connecting it to Didcot via Newbury. In 1891, a junction was made between this line and the London and South Western Railway at Shawford to the south of Winchester. In 1923, the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Junction Railway merged with the Great Western Railway.
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The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Junction Railway line ran over the Hockley Viaduct, whose thirty three arches span 614 metres (2,014 feet) in length, and linked the line to the Great Western Railway. It was used for passenger traffic until 1960 and freight until the closure of the line in 1966.
The viaduct is the largest brick built structure in Britain and was also the first in Britain to be built with a concrete core - despite these important facts, English Heritage refuse to grant this important part of Britain's heritage �Listed� status.
Winchester City Council own much of the land which belonged to the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Junction Railway line, including the Hockley Viaduct and the railway tunnel which runs under St Giles Hill. Although the City Council have carried out some essential maintenance and improved public access, the viaduct has suffered from vandalism and neglect. Basically sound, the viaduct does need repairs and repointed to keep it safe for future generations to enjoy. Funding is the key to the problem but, without its being "listed" sources of funding such as the National Lottery are very unlikely to be available.
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