Winchester Cathedral

 The main reason for coming to Winchester is to see the cathedral, the longest medieval cathedral in the world at 554 feet, but far from the tallest at only 78 feet. As is common with these structures, you can't really date it as it has had lots of remodeling. There was an old minster here built as far back as AD 662 followed by a new minster begun in 901. But this new cathedral was begun in 1079 and "finished" in 1093. However the original crossing tower (at the back in the photo below) collapsed in 1107 and had to be rebuilt.

However its current appearance is due to remodeling in what is known as the Perpendicular English Gothic in the 14th century.

The Crypt contains this Anthony Gormley statue.Its not really a sculpture, just a plaster cast from life. Like many modern sculptors, Gormley can't sculpt. He just manufactures.

There is a substantial entrance fee, but frankly it is well worth the admission fee. It is huge and hugely impressive with lots of monuments and a large exhibition too.

Most of the 14th and 15th century bishops have cluttered up the cathedral with their chantries. Note the CV below, from a time when bishops were real Renaissance men, expected to do things like be school headmaster and chancellor of the exchequer, and not just spend all their time trying to sweep child abuse under the carpet.

You migh think a diving helmet incongruous in a cathedral. But this helmet belonged to one William Walker who between 1906 and 1911 dived under the cathedral in sediment-filled water to shore up the cathedral foundations with 115,000 concrete blocks.

The fine flying buttresses may look medieval but were only added in 1909-12 to reinforce the south wall cloisters were removed in the dissolution the monasteries in the 1560s, weakening the cathedral's supports