WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 172, 7 August 1937, Page 11

WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL

Work of the Friends

The Society of Friends of Winchester Cathedral was founded six years ago, on the day of the patron saint of the diocese, the famous St. Swithin, whom legend credits with the control of the rainfall in the South of England. The association has now more than 1/200 members, and a considerable amount of good work to its credit. The cathedral is not only one of the noblest buildings in England; it is also one Of the largest churches in the conntry, and as such it is expensive to maintain. Forty years ago considerable repairs were necessary in the have, and ten years later the whole of the f oundations had to be excavated and restored at a cost of £112^000 — a work which necessitated ihe employment of divers as well as engineers, as there was a large aecumulation of water from underground streams bencath tho main fabrac. Sinee then fabric repairs have cost normally between. £1,200 a,nd £1,500 a year. But other matters havo arisen which demand attention, such as tlie heating and lighting of the cathedral, the cleaning and restoration of tho organ, and the repair of the bells. The Friends have contributed generously from their available funds to these needs. Electric light is now installed in the c ehoir, the tower, the transepts, and the library. A grant is being made towards the new peal of bells, which were dedicated at a special service. In addition, work has been done on the roof of the transepts, which had been attacked by that almost ubiquitous pest, the death-watch beetle; and the old monk's ' garden, known as the Paradise^ has been turfed and planted with spring flowers and flowering shrubs — a Tcal addition to the heabty of the peaceful cloise which has seen so much of English history pass like tho pageant of a dream sinco the day

when Winchester was Alfred's cu,xfita] city. Here Edward the Confessor was crowned, and Bichard Coeur de Lion came for that second Coronation which was held to be necessary when he returned from the Crusades, as proof that he had not signed his kingdom away for ransom in captivity. Here Canute and Bufus sleep their last sleep beside Egbert, first king of all England, and other Saxon E!ings. Here, too, the unfortunate Mary was married to cold Philip of Spain by Gardiner — and the stalwart Gardiner himself resls near to William of Wykeham and other famous occupants of the see. Nowhere, save at Canterbury and Westminster, has so much of English history been transacted in so 'small a spaco. Winchester is not unmindful of its past, when the full tide of life surged through its narrow Istreets and its bishops were statesmen and chancellors and diplomats as well as qhurchmen. To-day the splendour and the wealth of the episcopal see have gone, and though the memories remain there is more than a little difficulty in maintaining the shrine and its services for the ciiocose, and the summer tourists who call in on their way from Southampton and the seven seas to London. The problem has becoiiie more, rather than less, acute during the past few months. Priees of materials and labour are rising, and one unfortunate result of tho recent titho legislation is that a't deprives the cathedrdal of some £1200 a year — a serious and. permanent drop of income. For that reason alone? apart from any coneideratiOns of safety or the beauty of this hallowed and historic spirit, the friends of Winchester Cathedral are anxious to increase their numbers and their help to what they rightly regard as a sacred national trust.