(A) In our effort to see some proper old stuff on this trip, we decided to visit Stonehenge (2500 BC). It was awesome. I could bore you with my reflections on the experience, but I’m still reflecting on them. So, I’ll just offer some photos…
(K) In the 2000 years after Stonehenge was built, 100s of burial mounds were erected within sight of the stones and they are all just a portion of the mesolithic activity found in this area.
One of the girls pointed out the little bump on top of that tall stone, asking what it is. I said it was part of a mortise and tenon joint, which elicited the reply, “Oh, like ancient Legos!”
After that we drove past the Abbey Church of St. Mary and St. Melor, which sits on the site of the Amesbury Abbey, which is the convent that Lady Guinevere retired to after Arthur’s death. I didn’t take any pictures of that, but the girls did. Maybe they can add one.
From there we drove to Winchester (south, central England) to see the Great Hall, which was part of a castle built in 1067 by order of William the Conqueror. The hall has some marvelous stained glass windows and marble pillars. It also has the Round Table, which you’ll remember from the Arthur legends. I have to confess, I don’t know how much of those legends is based in fact and how much is pure fiction. I would have chalked up most of the Arthur (and Merlin and Camelot and so on) stories to fiction, but then I saw a huge, round table on display in a great hall… so I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t even know how old the table is. But I do know that King Henry VIII ordered that it be repaired in 1516, so it must have been around before then. Anyway, have a look…
That’s a statue of Queen Victoria. It’s pretty imposing, as statues go.
(K) The Round Table hanging in the hall was built by Henry lll almost 800 years ago for a tournament/festival he held to celebrate King Arthur. The Winchester Castle claims to be on the site of Camelot, but many places in Wales and England do.
Adjacent to the Great Hall is a little garden…
Next, we went to the Bishop on there Bridge Pub for dinner…
It was great. In fact, pretty much everything we saw in Winchester was great. It has the energy of a college town (because it is a college town) along with a whole load of medieval history. The upshot is that I really like Winchester.
