THENCE TO NEW FOREST, LYMINGTON, ISLE OF WIGHT, PORTS- The railway begins at Nine Elms, on the right bank of the Thames, in the parish of Batersea, a short distance above Vauxhall Bridge.* Elvetham House, Lord 38 Calthorpe, formerly a place of great extent and magnificence. Here a famous entertainment was given to Queen Elizabeth by the Earl of Hartford in 1591. Beyond is Bramshill, the seat of Sir J. Cope, built for Henry Prince of Wales, eldest son of James I. Village of Old Basing, 303 the scene of a severe battle fought in 871 between the Danes and the Saxons, when the latter, under the command of Alfred, were defeated. About 6 miles N. E. of Basingstoke is Strathfieldsay, the seat of the Duke of Wellington. Four miles west of it is Silchester, where are the remains of a Roman station, among the most en tire in the kingdom. Enter Hampshire. Roads lead off from Farnborough to Portsmouth by Farnham and Petersfield, to Gosport by Alton; to Southampton by Bishop's Waltham; and to Winchester by Alresford. Winchfield. Tilney Hall on the right. Basingstoke. This place is mentioned in Doomsday Book under the name of Basingtoches, and is described as having been always a royal manor. Malting and the corn trade form its principal business.] At a short distance is an ancient encampment. Two miles from Old Basing is the Vine, a mansion built by the first Lord Sandes. 38 46 Fleet Pond. Dogmersfield Park, Lady Mildmay. Three miles S. of Winchfield is Odiham, the birthplace of Lilly the Grammarian. Near it are the remains of an old castle, in which David King of Scotlandwas confined for eleven years after his capture at Neville's Cross. Ruins of Basing House, famous for the gallant defence which it made under John, fifth Marquis of Winchester against the Parliamentary troops. It held out during two years, and was ultimately stormed by Cromwell. Basingstoke canal communicates with the Thames by the river Wey in Surrey. One mile from Basingstoke is Hackwood ParkLord Bolton. * Omnibuses start before the departure of each train from the Spread Eagle in Gracechurch Street; Swan with Two Necks, Ladslane; Cross Keys, Wood Street, Cheapside; White Horse, Fetterlane: George and Blue Boar, Holborn; Golden Cross, Charing Cross; and the Universal Office in Regent Street. The origin of Winchester is involved in obscurity; but tradition, and the evidence of our oldest historical monuments, concur in representing it as one of the earliest settlements of the first inhabitants of the island. It was termed Caer Gwent by the Britons, Vinta by the Romans, and Wintanceaster by the Saxons. It became the capital of England under the Saxons when the country was united under the sway of Egbert, King of Wessex, in the beginning of the ninth century, and it retained this dignity till the reign of Edward the Confessor in the middle of the eleventh century. Here lie the bones of Alfred the Great, and of the famous Canute. In this city, in 1002, commenced the horrid massacre of all the Danes who had settled in England. From this massacre sprung the old English custom of the Hocktide merriments. Here William the Conqueror built a castle and a palace, part of the foundations of which is yet to be seen. Here his son, William Rufus, was crowned, and here he was buried : and here were the royal mint, treasury, and public record-office. Winchester suffered severely during the wars between Stephen and the Empress Matilda. Here Richard Coeur-de-Lion was crowned a second time with great pomp after his return from the crusades. Here John ratified his ignominious submission to the Pope's agent, Pandulph, and did homage to him for his crown. Henry III. was born here, and always bore the name of Henry of Winchester. Henry IV. here married Joan of Brittany. Parliaments were held in this city both in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII., was born at the castle; and Henry VIII. entertained the Emperor Charles V. at the same place in 1522. At the Reformation, it suffered severely from the dissolution of its monasteries and other religious buildings, so that it had the appearance of a city sacked by a hostile army. Here Queen Mary was married to Philip of Spain. James I. made Winchester the scene of the disgraceful trials of Sir Walter Raleigh, Lords Cobham and Grey, and their assumed accomplices; and three of these royal victims, the Hon. George Brooke, brother of Lord Cobham, and the priests, Watson and Clarke, were executed here on the Castle hill. The castle was garrisoned during the civil war, first by the adherents of the Parliament, from whom it was taken by the Royalists in 1643. After the battle of Naseby, it was retaken by Cromwell, who blew it up with gunpowder, battered to pieces the fortifications of the city, and demolished Wolvesly Castle, the bishop's palace. His troopers stabled their horses in the cathedral, and committed great excesses, demolishing the monuments, and mu→ tilating and injuring parts of the edifice. The bishop's palace was rebuilt in 1684. Winchester was a favourite city of Charles II. who commenced the erection of a palace in 1682 on the site of the old castle, which, so far as finish. ed, stands there now, and is occupied as barracks. Richard Cromwell, after resigning the Protectorate, passed the remainder of his life in retirement in the neighbourhood of this city, at the old manor of Mardon at Hursley. Winchester is situated on the eastern slope of an eminence, at the foot of which flows the beautiful river Itchen. The city has a solemn and venerable appearance. It consists of several good streets, lighted with gas, and well paved. Of the four ancient gates only one is now remaining; and all traces of the ditches and old walls have been obliterated. The most interesting public building in Winchester is the cathedral. Kinegils, the first of the Saxon kings who embraced Christianity, laid the foundation of a cathedral here, which, after his death, was carried on by his son, Kenewalch, and completed in 648. It stood on the spot which is occupied by the existing building. Having fallen into decay, it was rebuilt by St Ethelwold in 980. Bishop Walkelyn, the prelate who was first appointed to the See after the conquest, rebuilt the central tower, and made various important repairs and additions. Bishop Godfrey de Lucy rebuilt a portion of the east end towards the close of the eleventh century. Various extensive improvements were made about the middle of the fourteenth century by Bishop William de Edyndon; and his illustrious successor, William de Wykeham, who held the see of Winchester from 1366 to 1404 rebuilt nearly the whole of the cathedral to the westward of the central tower. A considerable part of the church to the east of this tower was restored by Bishop Richard Fox in the early part of the sixteenth century. The building is in the form of a cross, its length from east to west being 545 feet, and the breadth of the nave and aisles 87 feet. The nave is considered one of the finest in England. The length of the transepts is 186 feet. The tower is 138 feet in height and 50 feet by 48 in breadth. By far the noblest part of the building is the west front built by William of Wykeham, with its great central doorway, its noble window, rich with perpendicular tracery, its buttresses and pinnacled turrets, its crowning tabernacle, with its statue of the builder, and its pinnacled side aisles. The inte rior has a peculiarly solemn and magnificent appearance, and is richly ornamented. Around the walls are numerous monuments of bishops, deans, nobles, and gentlemen of neighbouring families. The chapels or chantries of Wykeham, Edington, Fox, Cardinal Beaufort, Waynflete, and Gardiner, are of the most beautiful and elaborate workmanship. "So delicately, so elaborately are they carved out, that they have more the appearance of being wrought in ivory |