Cathedrals and pubs

The last couple of days have been heavy on cathedrals, balanced out with a healthy dose of pub time. Two very interesting days.  The cathedrals in Winchester and Salisbury are more about history than religion and the history makes it obvious that religion is really about politics, money, and power.

Winchester Cathedral:

We took a guided tour of this one and they are always worthwhile. Among the trivial facts we learned is that Winchester Cathedral escaped bomb damage during WWII because Hitler gave orders that it be spared. Apparently he planned to have himself crowned in the cathedral after a hypothetical German victory.  Winchester had been the home of the first king of England, Alfred, and was its de facto capitol for many years.  

The most famous person buried there is Jane Austen, although her fame grew after her death.

The Cathedral underwent many changes over many years.  It is now largely Gothic in style but parts of the earlier Norman structure remain as shown in this picture.

The cathedral was damaged during the civil war by Protestant forces that removed much of the more Catholic elements considered to be idolatry.  

I was surprised that they were unsure who occupied even some of the prominent tombs such as this one.  Apparently there were gaps in record keeping and institutional history.

These are very old, original medieval frescos in one of the chapels.

Part of the floor still in use is composed of medieval painted tiles.

This is known as the Poultry Cross located in the center of town where a poultry market used to be.

Clay having a pint at the Haunch of Venison, a 14th century pub in Winchester.  Features of the bar include beautiful wood paneling, the last remaining pewter topped bar in England, a small room once used by ladies and later used as a meeting place for Eisenhower and Churchill, at least two haunting ghosts, and a severed mummified hand clutching cards found above an old rafter that presumably belonged to a cheating card shark.  A local came in who knew all the stories and wanted to share them.   It was a interesting evening.

A pub cat named Henry (different pub)

The disembodied hand.

Swans and ducks.  Someone was tossing breadcrumbs and attracted quite a crowd.  The ducks were much faster.

Salisbury Cathedral is very impressive.  We had been there before and were too early this time for a guided tour so we did our own walk through with a brochure pointing out some of the highlights.

The major tombs in Salisbury were those of local bishops but as in the case of Winchester, some of them were unidentified or disputed.

The most impressive bit of history at Salisbury is their original copy of the Magna Carta.  We were there too early in the day for both that and their gift shop, but we had seen it on a prior trip.

We got through the Salisbury Cathedral early today in order to make it out to our final holy site of the day, Stonehenge.  I have been fascinated by Stonehenge my entire life.  Only the pyramids rival it in my mind.  It shouldn't exist because the pre-historic cultures that created it supposedly didn't have the technology or social structure required to carry it out, and yet they did, for reasons that we still don't know.  You can learn more about Stonehenge watching pseudo-documentaries on television than by visiting the site.  They have done an abysmal job of interpretation until very lately. There is no visitors center like we would have in even a minor national park in this country, but I'm happy to say that a large new one is now under construction.  There was a decent audio tour available this time. Next time I look forward to checking out the new visitors center and doing a guided "up close among the stones" tour that is now available at certain times if booked in advance.