Winchester

Town in southwest England, capital of Late Saxon England and once ruled by Alfred the Great (871-899 AD). It has been documented through Roman and post-medieval times. It first was a walled town, then changed to planned streets with a defensive system. As the capital of Wessex; it continued to thrive during the Middle Ages as an important regional center and seat of a bishopric. It was the seat of the Danish king Canute's government (ruled 1016-1035), and several early kings, including Alfred and Canute II, were buried there.

The Roman predecessor of medieval Winchester in southwest England was a walled town known as Venta Bulgarum. In the later 9th century the Alfredian burh with its planned streets and defensive system rose to prominence as the capital of Wessex; it continued to thrive during the Middle Ages as an important regional centre and the seat of a bishopric. During the 1960s and 1970s extensive urban excavations concentrated on a range of medieval sites representative of Winchester’s history. The Brook Street area was the main cloth-working and industrial part of the town from Late Saxon times until the 14th century. Here the excavators found a sequence of cottages and shops used for dyeing, fulling and finishing wool garments. This was the first large-scale excavation of a medieval quarter in Britain and a highly influential project in its own right. Possibly the most important excavation took place beside the present Norman cathedral to uncover the earlier Old and New Minster churches. The excavations revealed the evolution of a four-celled 7th-century church to an elaborate structure of 905 with lateral chambers, crypt and westwork. Other important excavations included the project focused upon the 12th-century bishop’s residence (the Wolvesey Palace), excavations of the castle, and various smaller investigations to date the city walls.