Winchester Cathedral

Tags

Winchester Cathedral

Winchester was one of the Cathedrals we visited while on holiday a couple of weeks back.  Inside it contained something of an unexpected bonus, although the basic information must have been somewhere in my memory in a file labeled long forgotten.

The unassuming tomb of Jane Austen, a plaque of a latter date has been added on the wall, but without the helpful leaflet handed to you when you arrive, you could easily miss this gem.

Actually Winchester Cathedral is full of gems.

From the Medieval paintings, like this one of Christ being taken down from the cross :-

to the stunning modern sculpture, standing all along in the crypt by Antony Gormley, Sound II.

From the hidden glories of the candlesticks and altar in the St Andrew’s chapel, made from wood and embellished with copper :-

to the more obvious use of damaged stained glass from every era and all over the diocese in some of their windows.

And angels in stone,

brass,

mosaic,

and stained glass.

Not to mention the ones in wood and fabric which we somehow managed not to get photographs of.

Like Norwich Cathedral which we later visited, Winchester Cathedral was in mid preparation for an event, increasingly in fact this seems to be the case when visiting Cathedrals.  While I understand the need for the extra revenue and the sense in shutting off areas to make sure that visitors don’t fall over cables or decapitate themselves on the strung wires, and also that unsightly extra seating has to be laid out before the forthcoming event; I also feel that Cathedrals, such as Winchester which have an admission charge, should also remember that those who are visiting are also helping with the upkeep of the Cathedral and I for one don’t like an hour plus of sound system testing accompanying me as I wander round a house of God.

Luttrell’s Tower

Tags

Landmark Trust

Hardly had time to breathe since getting back so it is just as well we had a very relaxing holiday, it started at Luttrell’s Tower.

Luttrell's Tower From The Beach

Luttrell’s Tower is known as a folly, although I am not sure that it really is as it was always intend to be lived in.  Is is not far from Calshot and Southampton.  The Luttrell of the name, is Temple Simon Luttrell who was the member of a colourful if slightly disreputable Irish family.  In 1778 he married the daughter of Sir Henry Gould, and in 1793 he was arrested in Bologna by revolutionaries, being believed to be the brother of the King of England, he was released two years later and died in 1803.  He bought the land in 1772 for duck hunting; the tradition is that he built the tower for smuggling, but it more likely started out as a very grand hunting lodge, as one of his brothers was an excise commissioner, so the smuggling idea may be a bit of a red herring and the idea probably grew up from the network of tunnels that where dug underneath the tower one of which leads down to the beach.  The passage of time and alterations have meant that the tunnel now no longer opens out directly onto the beach but onto a small patio slightly raised from the beach.

Beach Entrance to Smugglers Tunnel

There is no definite date for when the tower was built although it is thought to have been in the early part of the 18th century, however it is first mentioned in a print of Calshot Castle in 1780.  In those days it was called Eaglehurst and consisted of the tower, behind which through subterranean passages were a number of marquees to which the family moved when the tower was too cold and the wind from the Solent too wild.  In 1813 the 7th earl of Cavan became the owner of Luttrell’s Tower and replaced the tented buildings with a house in the same plan.

Queen Victoria, while still a princess, visited the estate in 1833 aged 14, during the visit she climbed the tower wrote in her diary that there were fine views of Norris Castle on the Isle of White and commented that, at that time, one of the rooms in the tower was the home to an Egyptian Mummy, from which she was given a piece of the linen that it was wrapped in.  (We have no idea which room.)  It is said that Queen Victoria considered buying the property when it came up for sale but eventually chose Osborne instead.

Queen Victoria passed by while we were there too, no not as a ghost, but the Cunard ship which sailed past on our first evening.  During our stay we saw countless vessels of all shapes and sizes.

Queen Victoria sailing past Luttrell's Tower the Isle of Wight in the distance

After being sold Eaglehurst House was lived in by the Drummond family until being requisitioned by the RAF during the WWII, while the Tower had a series of tenants the most notable being Marconi from 1911 to 1916.  With its high position over the Solent looking towards the isle of Wight it played an important part in radio experiments between the tower and his other station near The Needles.  On 10th April 1912 Marconi’s wife and daughter climbed the tower to watch the Titanic sail out of Southampton, Marconi and his wife had been invited as guests of the White Star Line to be on the maiden voyage, however circumstances had meant they didn’t make the fateful voyage.  The new Marconigram was to play a vital role in the events that were to enfold on that fateful voyage, and make it an essential part of every ships equipment.

Now the tower is owned by The Landmark Trust and you too can stay in it, and I doubt you will be disappointed.  Our stay there was up there amongst the most relaxing days of my life, apart from maybe the climb up the 200+ stairs to the top of the tower, (that is the top of the round bit) although the view was definitely worth it.

Luttrells Tower

There is only one large on each floor and the three rooms above ground level, are all bright and airy with a triple aspect including spectacular views over towards Isle of Wight, all the rooms are tastefully decorated with period furniture.  On the ground floor there is a twin bedroom with en-suite:-

Twin Ground Floor Room - Luttrell's Tower

on the first floor there is a double bedroom and the third floor with the white bay windows (on the outside photographs) is the living room with small kitchenette.  We spent a lot of time sitting at this table watching the world sail past.

Luttrell's Tower Living Room View towards Isle of Wight

If instead of going upstairs you open this beautiful door (which incidentally was the only door in the tower which wasn’t curved to match the spiral staircase):-

and head downstairs you arrive at a games room and the towers entrance to the smugglers tunnel.

Tower Entrance to Smugglers Tunnel