It was almost one thousand years ago that work first began on Winchester cathedral, in 1089 to be precise. Today this stunning tribute to the craftsmanship of medieval workmen still continues to surprise the regular visitor. To put the size of Winchester Cathedral into perspective it is the longest medieval cathedral in existence being five hundred and twenty six feet long, and the soaring twelve bay nave is one of the greatest in England.

Winchester Cathedral stands today as proof of the importance of Winchester as a place in the history of England. In times past it was the capital of the Anglo Saxon Kingdom of Wessex, perhaps better known to some as King Alfred's Wessex. What is quite staggering is that a Christian Church was first built on this site in the 7th century. To look at the cathedral from the outside is awesome enough, but in some respects it is even more awe inspiring from within.

The cathedral was also the church of a community of Benedictine monks almost from the beginning, and the choir stalls with their magnificent gabled canopies and elaborate carvings of flowers, plants, owls and monkeys, dragons, knights, and green men. This is only one of the inspiring sights to be seen inside the Cathedral. It is worth a look at the famous chantry chapels where daily masses were said for the bishops buried within them.

Whilst visiting Winchester Cathedral you may notice one tomb in particular because it seems to attract more than its share of visitors. It is the tomb of Jane Austen who literary types will know died in 1817, and her home Chawton Cottage where she wrote many of her famous works is only some fifteen miles away. There is lots to see in and around Winchester Cathedral, and it should be an unmissable part of any trip to this part of the world, it is after all only 72 miles south west of London.