Friends

Established in 1931, the Friends of Winchester Cathedral is an independent charity set up specifically to:

Assist Chapter maintain the Cathedral
Help stimulate interest in the Cathedral
Preserve and beautify the Cathedral, its music and history
Set up by Dean Selwyn, our first grant of £100 paid for new kneelers and cushions for the choir stalls. Since then we have given over £10 million to the Cathedral in present day terms.

Over 89 years, we have provided substantial support in a number of ways including:

Repairs to stonework, stained glass windows, the organ and the roof
Providing a cherry picker, an altar frontal, vestments, kneelers and a piano
Funding the magnificent Fleury building extension through a grant for £819,000
Membership starts at £25 for a single membership or £45 for a joint membership.

Annual Grants
We provide in the region of £70,000 each year in regular grants to the Cathedral. This year we have provided grants for:

• The Girls’ Choir. We pay the expenses of the Girls’ Choir each year, plus the costs for each of the girls to learn a musical instrument.
• Two scholarships for boy choristers
• The maintenance of the trees in the Close
• Cathedral Flowers. We pay for the flowers in the Cathedral throughout the year.
• The Cathedral Christmas tree. The Friends provide the funding for the large Christmas tree at the West End of the Cathedral each year.
• Broderers. The Friends fund the work of the Broderers

You can either join online here

Or download an membership form and return it to the Friends’ Office by post. The Friends’ office is at 2 The Close, Winchester SO23 9LS

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

Please book our talks by contacting the office on 01962 857244/5 or by emailing friends@winchester-cathedral.org.uk

• Friends’ Annual Lecture – Tracy Chevalier – History through the eye of a needle.
  Please contact the office if you would like to access the recording of this event.
• David Jewell: Curator, Hillier Gardens – Thursday 7th October, 7pm, Paul Woodhouse Suite, tickets are £10 for Friends and £12 for non Friends.
  An overview of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens through the year.
  This talk will include a brief history and a look at key areas across the gardens, including trees, shrubs and perennials, providing thoughts, ideas and inspiration.
• Cindy Wood: Friends Trustee & Lecturer at the University of Winchester – Monday 18th October, 7pm, Zoom, free event but donations are welcome.
  In the past Cindy has talked to the Friends about the chantry chapels in both Winchester Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.
  This talk will turn our attention to the Chantry Chapels at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
• Mary Ford: Cathedral Guide – Tuesday 9th November, 2pm, Paul Woodhouse Suite, tickets are £10 for Friends and £12 for non Friends. Mary Ford will talk to us about “Queen Emma: Lone Lady of the Mortuary Chests”.
• Winchester College Mallory Event – Wednesday 1st December, 6.45pm Winchester College, tickets are £10 for Friends and £12 for non Friends.
• Come along to an exclusive talk for the Friends about the 100th anniversary of the first attempted ascent of Everest by George Mallory (Wykehamist) and others.

Friends’ Coffee Mornings
The Coffee mornings are held in the Undercroft. The dates for rest of 2021 are Friday 15th October, Friday 19th November and Friday 10th December.

RECORDINGS OF PREVIOUS TALKS

If you would like to view talks from earlier in 2021, you can view them on You Tube or Zoom:

• Johanna Strong, PhD student, University of Winchester – “Mary I of England – how ‘Bloody’ was she?”
• Jane Hands, Lay Canon, and Dr Tim Hands, Headmaster of Winchester College – “Cathedral and College: breaching the wall – from Wykeham to Wesley and beyond“
• David Farthing, Cathedral Guide – “The Winchester Diver: Behind The Scenes”
• Tom Watson, Friends’ Trustee – “Edward the Martyr: the murder mystery king”
• Chris Dobbs, Head of Interpretation at the Mary Rose, Bruce Parker and Margaret and Nick Braddock – “The raising of the Mary Rose by individuals who were involved in the story”
• Jeannie Berridge, Cathedral Guide – “The Great Screen – Magnificence, Mayhem and Mystery”
• Tom Burden: former Headmaster, The Pilgrims’ school – if you would like to view the recording of this talk, please contact the office.
• Tom Watson, Friends’ trustee – “The history of the formation of the Friends”
• Friends’ AGM – 10th July 2021
• Friends 90th Anniversary Evensong – 10th July 2021

If you enjoyed any of these talks, maybe you would like to make a donation the Friends are welcome via this link.

Bishop Godfrey De Lucy, Agatha and their three sons: clerical relationships in the thirteenth century

Cathedral guide Anna Withers tells the little-known story of Agatha, the “wife” of Bishop Godfrey de Lucy (1189 -1204), and their three sons. Their time together was in the aftermath of the Gregorian Reforms which enforced chastity in the Church.

Captain Henry Pearson, RN and the Great Samoan Hurricane

Ian Glenday, also a Cathedral Guide, and Tom Watson investigate the North Transept plaque commemorating Captain Henry Pearson, RN and find a late Victorian naval hero who came to Winchester in retirement.