What's On At Winchester Cathedral

Kings & Scribes: The Birth of A Nation

THIS EXHIBITION IS CURRENTLY CLOSED.

Kings and Scribes: The Birth of a Nation unlock Winchester Cathedral's captivating stories and reveal some of the nation's greatest treasures.

Explore a spectacular three-level exhibition space in the South Transept which takes you on a journey through over 1,000 years of history, whilst offering awe-inspiring views of the Cathedral.

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This Royal House of Saxon Kings and Saints

DUE TO COVID-19, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

The Anglo Saxon Minster and its role in the birth of the English nation, the personalities who inhabited it and the traces which are still visible today.  Part of this tour is outside on slightly uneven ground, suitable clothing and footwear should be worn.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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Wednesday Evening Special Tours

DUE TO COVID-19, OUR WEDNESDAY TOURS IN JULY HAVE BEEN CANCELLED.

On Wednesday 8 July, between 6pm & 7.30pm we will be running a special evening of tours.

Choose from:

Literary Links
This Royal House of Saxon Kings and Saints
From Vision to Reality – The Architecture and Building of the Cathedral
Jane Austen: Her Life and Times
Just Williams
The Victorian Story: Vision, Virtue and Infamy
Pestilence Penitence & Putrefaction: A Medical History of Winchester Cathedral

All evening tours are £10 from the Box Office. Available Soon.

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Wednesday Tours – 8 July

DUE TO COVID-19, OUR WEDNESDAY TOURS HAVE SADLY BEEN CANCELLED.

1030am     Stained Glass
A relatively unexplored cathedral treasure. Bring binoculars for best viewing. Winchester Cathedral offers the opportunity to study glass from the workshops of medieval masters of the 14th, 15th and early 16th century and to follow the enthusiastic Victorian revival and the Arts and Crafts movement to the present day.

1.30pm       Art in the Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral is rich in art objects, including works by well-known artists, Peter Eugene Ball, Cecil Collins, Eric Gill, Antony Gormley and Justin Knowles, as well as local artists Sophie Hacker, Tim Harrisson, Alice Kettle, Tracey Sheppard - and many more. This Tour enables visitors to enjoy a close-up interaction with several of these works, within the context of this very special, time-honoured place.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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SCF 2020

UNFORTUNATELY THE SOUTHERN CATHEDRALS FESTIVAL HAS BEEN POSTPONED FOR THIS YEAR.

The Intention is that it should be held in Winchester next year.

More information will appear at:

southerncathedralsfestival.org.uk

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Wednesday Tour – 22 July

DUE TO COVID-19, OUR WEDNESDAY TOURS HAVE SADLY BEEN CANCELLED.

Dynamic Deans

Winchester Cathedral Deans – innovators, game changers, courageous, financial wizards, inspirational, driven: Dynamic Men. Unsung heroes throughout the ages.

The tour focuses on some whose works and state-of-the-art changes had a major impact on our cathedral, and on their relations with Winchester people; not always smooth!

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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Wednesday Tours – 29 July

DUE TO COVID-19, OUR WEDNESDAY TOURS HAVE SADLY BEEN CANCELLED.

1030am     Art in the Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral is rich in art objects, including works by well-known artists, Peter Eugene Ball, Cecil Collins, Eric Gill, Antony Gormley and Justin Knowles, as well as local artists Sophie Hacker, Tim Harrisson, Alice Kettle, Tracey Sheppard - and many more. This Tour enables visitors to enjoy a close-up interaction with several of these works, within the context of this very special, time-honoured place.

1.30pm       This Royal House of Saxon Kings and Saints
The Anglo Saxon Minster and its role in the birth of the English nation, the personalities who inhabited it and the traces which are still visible today.  Part of this tour is outside on slightly uneven ground, suitable clothing and footwear should be worn.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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From Vision to Reality: The Architecture and Building of the Cathedral

Follow the evolution of this monumental Norman cathedral through the subsequent development of the medieval period to the Reformation and early Renaissance.  Learn about the many different styles of architecture and the extraordinary achievements of the builders in creating this magnificent cathedral.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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Wednesday Tours – 5 August

1.30pm       Curious and Mysterious

Mystifying Cathedral puzzles or secrets, ancient and modern, will be revealed on this tour. The tour covers mysteries spanning some 700 years, often obscured by the mists of time. A range of delights are featured, such as moving tombs, an unofficial high profile burial, First World War personal benevolence with world changing results, disasters at sea and “what’s in a name”.

1.30pm       Face The Music

Face the music includes background musical history and examines aspects of music with in the Cathedral.  There are three types of visual clues: firstly, images in stone, wood, glass and embroidery reflecting 'heavenly harmony'; secondly memorials and graffiti referring to specific musical personalities; and thirdly, places and objects with musical functions such as organ or the Treasury.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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Wednesday Tours – 12 August

10.30am     Stained Glass
A relatively unexplored cathedral treasure. Bring binoculars for best viewing. Winchester Cathedral offers the opportunity to study glass from the workshops of medieval masters of the 14th, 15th and early 16th century and to follow the enthusiastic Victorian revival and the Arts and Crafts movement to the present day.

1.30pm       Literary Links

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

Read More...

Jane Austen: Her Life and Times

Jane Austen - Her Life and Times
Jane Austen died in Winchester in 1817, in rented rooms in College Street. She was buried in the north aisle of the Cathedral, probably arranged by her brother Henry who had been ordained shortly before her death. This tour offers visitors an intimate and often amusing insight into her life and connections with the Cathedral.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

Read More...

Wednesday Tours – 26 August

10.30am     Art in The Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral is rich in art objects, including works by well-known artists, Peter Eugene Ball, Cecil Collins, Eric Gill, Antony Gormley and Justin Knowles, as well as local artists Sophie Hacker, Tim Harrisson, Alice Kettle, Tracey Sheppard - and many more. This Tour enables visitors to enjoy a close-up interaction with several of these works, within the context of this very special, time-honoured place.

1.30pm       From Vision to Reality:
The Architecture and Building of the Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral contains fine examples of all the main styles of ecclesiastical architecture which will all be seen and explained in some detail. In addition, the tour will describe the construction methods used in medieval times and how Bishop Walkelin achieved the amazing feat of completing most of the original building in just 14 years.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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Wednesday Tour – 2 September

Cathedral Women
Famous, reforming, talented, artistic, professional, all at the top of their fields – our latest selection introduces more cathedral personalities.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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This Royal House of Saxon Kings and Saints

The Anglo Saxon Minster and its role in the birth of the English nation, the personalities who inhabited it and the traces which are still visible today.  Part of this tour is outside on slightly uneven ground, suitable clothing and footwear should be worn.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

Read More...

Wednesday Tours – 9 September

10.30am     Green Men

The term “Green Men” was only brought into use in 1939, but their existence goes back many years and actually predates Christianity. They are a carver’s device, rarely found in glass or in illuminated manuscripts and they were particularly popular in the 14th century. There are over 70 examples in the Cathedral although some are difficult to spot, and on the tour we shall look at several different types of Green Men, including one for which Winchester is rightly famous.

1.30pm       Dynamic Deans
Winchester Cathedral Deans – innovators, game changers, courageous, financial wizards, inspirational, driven: Dynamic Men. Unsung heroes throughout the ages.

The tour focuses on some whose works and state-of-the-art changes had a major impact on our cathedral, and on their relations with Winchester people; not always smooth!

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

Read More...

Hidden Places…Higher Spaces

Hidden Places… Higher Spaces… From the Crypt to the Nave ... Our Cathedral's Wartime Legacy

On this tour we will visit three areas of the Cathedral and show you how our Cathedral was at the heart of every conflict in its history. We will learn what was happening there when wars took place, how we reacted, and how we remember our dead.

We will visit the ancient Crypt, the longest medieval nave in Europe and go up into the roof space with its 18 miles of wooden beams. What secrets do they hold? What wartime stories can they tell?  What legacy have they left to us?

You will go away refreshed, invigorated and with new enthusiasm for a city whose Cathedral embodies the best of times, the worst of times ...a beacon to mankind.

Please note this tour includes steep steps up into the roof space.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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Wednesday Tour – 30 September

1.30pm       Heroes and Villains
Who fled the cathedral in a dung-cart? Who refused lodgings to Charles II’s “trollop”? Who owned the hoof of a griffin? Find out about the great, the good and the occasionally ghastly men whose fascinating stories are told in this tour.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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Saturday Tours – 3 October

Choose from:

From Vision to Reality: the Architecture and building of the Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral contains fine examples of all the main styles of ecclesiastical architecture which will all be seen and explained in some detail. In addition, the tour will describe the construction methods used in medieval times and how Bishop Walkelin achieved the amazing feat of completing most of the original building in just 14 years.

or

Wood Glorious Wood
This tour explores the exceptional riches of the Cathedral's woodwork, ancient and modern.  It considers the indispensable role of wood in the construction and preservation of the building and we discover wood furnishings and decoration as far back as the 12th century.  The highlight of the tour is a look in some detail at one of the Cathedral's greatest treasures, the 14th century quire stalls, described as "the most beautiful in Northern Europe".

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

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Aled Jones

Join Aled Jones for a special concert at Winchester Cathedral as he embarks on a UK-wide tour, performing at many of the nation’s best-loved cathedrals.

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Hidden Places…Higher Spaces

Hidden Places… Higher Spaces… From the Crypt to the Nave ... Our Cathedral's Wartime Legacy

On this tour we will visit three areas of the Cathedral and show you how our Cathedral was at the heart of every conflict in its history. We will learn what was happening there when wars took place, how we reacted, and how we remember our dead.

We will visit the ancient Crypt, the longest medieval nave in Europe and go up into the roof space with its 18 miles of wooden beams. What secrets do they hold? What wartime stories can they tell?  What legacy have they left to us?

You will go away refreshed, invigorated and with new enthusiasm for a city whose Cathedral embodies the best of times, the worst of times ...a beacon to mankind.

Please note this tour includes steep steps up into the roof space.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

Read More...

Wednesday Tour – 21 October

1.30pm       Art in the Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral is rich in art objects, including works by well-known artists, Peter Eugene Ball, Cecil Collins, Eric Gill, Antony Gormley and Justin Knowles, as well as local artists Sophie Hacker, Tim Harrisson, Alice Kettle, Tracey Sheppard - and many more. This Tour enables visitors to enjoy a close-up interaction with several of these works, within the context of this very special, time-honoured place.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

Read More...

Wednesday Tour – 28 October

1.30pm       Jane Austen: Her lIfe and times
Jane Austen died in Winchester in 1817, in rented rooms in College Street. She was buried in the north aisle of the Cathedral, probably arranged by her brother Henry who had been ordained shortly before her death. This tour offers visitors an intimate and often amusing insight into her life and connections with the Cathedral.

Tours are free upon admission to the Cathedral but tickets must be booked through the Box Office. Available soon.

Read More...