Nave & East End, interior of St Cross Church, Winchester, southern England

Artist: Philip Mitchell
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Nave & East End, interior of St Cross Church, Winchester, southern England

The Hospital of St Cross, England’s oldest continuing almshouse, comprises a group of grade I listed medieval and Tudor buildings, including a medieval hall and tower, Tudor cloister, Norman church, and gardens reflecting a seventeenth century connection with North America.

The term “Hospital” has the same origin as the word “hospitality”: for over 850 years St Cross has provided food and shelter to people in need, in the Christian tradition of caring for the less fortunate. It has been home to the Master and Brethren of St Cross since medieval times: there are presently 25 Brothers. Visitors can still receive the Wayfarer’s Dole, a horn of beer and a morsel of bread, given freely to anyone who requests it.

The fine Transitional Norman Church, begun in 1135 at the east end with the north porch added nearly 200 years later, is all that remains of the original Hospital. Here the Brothers still gather to celebrate the office of Mattins each day. The walls are over one metre thick and were built from stone brought from as far afield as Caen (in Normandy), Dorset and the Isle of Wight, as well as some flint taken from the local chalk pits.

The church’s interior embodies an even longer evolution of styles. In this view we are looking towards the East End, which is unmistakably Norman, with its zigzag decoration over rounded windows, but the capitals of the nave’s piers become less Norman as they proceed westwards. By contrast the nave’s clerestory dates from the 14th century, while the vault arching above was only finished in the 15th century. Yet the whole effect of these shapes and patterns in stone is one of complete architectural synthesis.

Nave & East End, interior of St Cross Church, Winchester, southern England belongs to the following groups:

! 100% !, Christian Churches, Statues and Crosses, Creative, Talented, and Unknown, European Everyday Life (add the place!), Everyday Life, For The Love Of Jesus , Heritage in Stone, Historic Churches, Historic Places *2 per day*, Mood & Ambience - Strictly Photos, PostCard Style (Describe your image please) Limit 2 per day), Shameless Self-Promotion, Shapes & Patterns - Limit of 2 images per day, Style! Class! Elegance! Excellence!, This is England, Treasured UK Structures (TUKS), United Kingdom, Wessex UK - ancient and modern and à EUROPA!