ablished by
John Deverniche, one of the city fathers, in 1275 for the succour of
aged wayfarers, it was suppressed at the Reformation, but reverted to
its original purpose in 1829, and is thus one of the oldest living
foundations of its kind in the kingdom.

Charles II desired to revive the royal glories of Winton and
commissioned the erection of a palace which was unfinished when he
died. After being used as a barracks, the fine building was
practically destroyed in 1894 by a disastrous fire. This element was
almost as great an enemy of old Winchester as the reformers
themselves. On one occasion the town was fired by a defender, Savaric
de Mauleon, on the approach of a French army under Louis the Dauphin.
When the other, and junior, capital was receiving its cleansing by
fire in 1666, Winchester was being more than decimated by the plague,
which was as direful here as anywhere else.

The city is 1,025 years old as a corporate town. Its staple business
in medieval times was the sale of wool or its manufacture into cloth.
Standing midway between two great tracts of sheep country, it was the
natural mart for this important trade and therefore prospered and
became rich. St. Giles' Fair, once famous and of great importance to
cattle and sheep farmers, finally expired about the middle of the last
century. In its prime it was of such a nature that the jurisdiction of
the Mayor and the City Courts was in abeyance for sixteen days from
the twelfth of September. It was held on St. Giles' Hill just without
the town. The fair was under the patronage of the Bishop, who
appointed a "Justice of the Court of Pavilion" during the period of
the fair.

[Illustration: WEST GATE, WINCHESTER.]

The chief excursion that every one takes, and that every one should
take, from Winchester is to St. Cross. The beautiful old Norman church
and its equally beautiful surrounding buildings almost rival
Winchester Close itself in their interest and charm. A short walk
southwards through the suburb of Sharkford leads direct in a little
over a mile to this goal of the archaeologist. A slightly longer but
pleasanter route goes by the banks of the Itchen.

St. Cross is the oldest charity, still living its ancient life, that
remains to us. Its charter is dated 1151, but it was founded nearly
twenty years earlier by Bishop Henry de Blois. The document set forth
that thirteen "poor men, so reduced in strength as to be unable to
raise themselves without