I spent a few weeks painting inside the bell tower about 35 years ago. Spent my lunch breaks exploring all the hidden passages and stair cases. Incredible building! Great vid as always!
As a structural engineer from Germany who loves historic structures (and is inexplicably hooked on this content of yours) this episode has been an exceptional treat. Thank you, Paul!
Hi Paul. Thanks for a great video on my favourite cathedral. Further plot twist: about 20 years ago they replaced the statue in the cathedral with a correct one of William Walker, so the one in the cathedral is of Walker. Also, to those wondering: the cathedral was floating on beech logs, some of which were carved into souvenirs to help fund the restoration.
Many yearts ago I had a colleague whose Father was Clerk of the works for Winchester Cathederal. He told two stories about the cathedral. The first concerned its original construction. I guess this was about the nave. Apparently a beam was constructed to span between the walls but when its installation was attempted it was found to be six inches too short. Everyone went off to pray overnight and remarkably next day the beam fitted perfectly! The second is about a passageway that runs around the cathedral close to the roof. You can go right around the building completely out of sight from thos below.
Ah yes, "Winchester Cathedral, you're wearing me down." My first job was on Martin Biddle's dig in about 1965. The song is a vivid reminder. My understanding was that the Cathedral was built on the south-eastern corner of the Roman forum. The Norman foundation, logs, was rotting creating the problems you so eloquently described. Well done.
William Walker is a bit of a local legend (I live in Winch). Sadly, he died in the Spanish Flu epidemic after the First World War but a few years ago, the pub across the road from the Cathedral Close was renamed The William Walker, which was nice. The modern sculpture under the Cathedral is by Antony Gormley of "Angel of the North" fame and when it's wet the sculpture is standing in a pool of water 🙂.
I remember doing a tour of Whinchester Cathedral with the Clerk of Works, who told me, mum and my brother the story of saving the cathedral. We were enchanted. It's such a beautiful church, and the site of the coronation of the Saxon Kings of England, before William The Bastard. In later years some of The Plantagenates.
I love how the outline of the old minster is visible in the drone shots -- partly under the Norman cathedral. Also, there is some pretty cool stuff in the crypt: Anglo-Saxon sarcophagi, a lake, a modern sculpture.
Great I visited Winchester in 1991 and I remember the display regarding thee foundations. I traveled throughout England and Scotland and I believe Winchester is the most beautiful Cathedral.
Great Vid Paul, many years ago when I was at secondary school I was lucky enough to be allowed behind the scenes in the Hampshire records office to study from old books and documents for a project about the cathedral.
What an amazing epic of underwater engineering - with a very unfortunate twist. I hope it has since been acknowleged and rectified. Great video. Thank you.
As a school kid growing up in 80s SW Surrey, Winchester Cathedral was a regular location for school trips. Most of the focus of the visit was supposed to be about the Cathedral and the Normans & Plantegenants (we were a catholic church school so there was always plenty of mad hand wringing about its 'theft') but as kids we were far more interested in Spitfire Bridge and the story of William Walker the Diver ( who at the time we were told died of a very bad cold by one of our crackpot Irish Nun teachers and that was why we should not to spend too much time swimming in cold water! )
Oh, what a nice little video. Very informative, very well researched and edited. Well done over all. ^^ I'm always fascinated by the works that have to be done to keep these olds wonders of stone masonry alive.
A fascinating story! Even before your side comments, I was thinking how professional this video looked, with great editing, camera perspectives, and presentation!👍
Hi Paul, Its such an interesting story as is the Salisbury Cathedral one too. Both very well presented I know Rebecca is in the background on your videos but it was lovely to see her on screen again. Thanks for delaying the publishing of this one. Ive got my headphones on listening to you whilst the Spanish team are parading around Madrid on the telly. One day it will come home, are you any good at selecting football teams? All the best!!
Very interesting video. These ancient buildings can perhaps seem indestructible simply because they have been standing so long so it's interesting to hear about these events. Thank you for all your videos you have come such a long way, over 125K subscribers now to show for it!
The William Walker bust - in diving suit - was at least the third version sculpted by Norman Frederick Pierce FRBS, ARCA.He had also done a small statuette similar in size to the Francis Fox mistaken version but, in my view, a much more appealing version and an extremely good likeness. When unveiled, it was in the outside area by the buttery - having not been there for many years, I cannot be certain it has not been moved.
You release this video on a rainy 15th of July with a title showing Winchester cathedral in an animated downpour without mentioning Bishop Swithun. What is going on?
Now it wouldn't be a cathedral if it wasn't built on a boggy flood plain less than a stones throw from a river . I'm not sure how William pronounced his name but I can image the people of Furneaux Pelham and the surrounding villages and towns near Bishops Stortford cringing as in that necks of the woods its pronounced " Furnix " or " Furnex " and would frown on the Norman French of William the Bastard from which it originated.
Oddly William Walker has a link to South Norwood ( South London ) there's a plaque on a house on Portland Road . I don't know where he is buried officially in the Region of the Winchester Cathedral fix or in The Elmers End / Birkbeck Cemetary ?
it always amazes me how the 'Church' can always manage to finance these huge structures and the cost of running them but at the continuing expense of the rest of their buildings which continue to suffer financial poverty. Local churches often suffer years of deprivation or even have to close rather than spend time and effort rekindling the Christian faith around them. It is no wonder that this faith is gradually diminishing leaving the Elite and their edifices more and more isolated tourist magnets.
They say those are relatively modern sculptures of Divers, or could it be possible they are very ancient sculptures of human-looking ETs dressed in modern-looking space suits? making them the original pilots of the spaceship now called Winchester Cathedral just hidden in plain sight, well Ancient Astronaut theorists said YES! 🤣
Evening +Paul: Are you putting Every Disused Station on the back-burner (if that makes sense) or will there be more episodes of that? I know how difficult it can be to replicate successful content ...trust me!
EDS finished up around a year ago. It because too tiresome visiting industrial estates and new builds just to point at where a place was. Hopefully the new stuff is a tad more visual.
@@pwhitewick Thank you for replying. Did you mean to say * it became too tiresome etc. * ...sorry for being a ...stickler (!!), also note I hardly ever apologise to the people I correct (comment content wise) here on RU-vid.
