Members’ area

Scroll down to see more on:

• The Summer Walks programme

• Members’ visits

• A report on last year’s AGM

• Volunteering with the Trust

Summer walks programme

The Summer Walks around Winchester are held from May to August every year.  Enthusiastic experts such as architects, historians, City guides and Council Conservation Officers take a small group around places of interest in the City.

If you have an idea for a summer walk or would like to volunteer as a guide, please contact Tessa at secretary@cityofwinchestertrust.co.uk

summer walks May-august 2024

A highly popular programme of walks from May to August was organised by our new volunteer organiser.

St Swithun was clearly not happy with us! One walk was cancelled, one held indoors and one postponed, all due to rain. Nevertheless, eight walks took place, most with 15 to 20 participants, and our guides educated us in a wonderful variety of subjects.

Christopher Normand gave us a passionately immersive talk about the College’s War Memorial, beautifully renovated in its centenary year. Judith Martin responded brilliantly to the need to hold the talk indoors and introduced us to the largely unsung part played by Thomas Micklam and the Conservative Land Society in the development of Winchester’s housing stock.

Richard Baker - giving only his first repeat talk in over twenty years - uncovered many fascinating historical and architectural points of interest for us on West Hill. Clare Dixon revealed the secrets of Parchment Street, which I suspect most of us had walked past a hundred times, and Geraldine Buchanan brought to vivid life the Winchester of Jane Austen.

On Magdalen Hill Down, Fiona Scully explained the world of butterflies to us and the wonderful diversity of local habitats, while Justin Ridgment and Mark Butt gave us a marvellous insider’s view of the extraordinary new University building on Romsey Road.

We finished the season with an entrancing trip back in time to King Alfred’s Winchester in the company of Barbara Yorke. (We still have our rescheduled walk on the Winchester Union Workhouse, by Caroline and Richard York, to come.)

One plea. Winchester is surprisingly noisy, even after 6pm. If anyone knows of an inexpensive microphone and receiver ‘tour-guide system’ for twenty people, please let us know.

To all our guides, who very generously give their time and expertise free of charge, and to our participants, who proved stoic in sometimes rather wet conditions - many thanks!

summer walks 2023

Due to the lack of an organiser, we were only able to arrange a limited Summer Walks programme, but we hope that what we lacked in number we made up for in quality!

This year’s summer walks programme was a fascinating mix of architecture, history and nature.

Richard Baker provided an absorbing insight into the many architectural features that can be seen in the High Street. It is always eye-opening to take the time to look at the small details that help make our historic city so appealing.

Adam Rattray took members on a tour of parts of Winchester College that are not always accessible to the public, and provided a fascinating insight into the buildings and their history.

Karen Dagwell explored the architecture and history of Wolvesey Castle and really brought it alive with stories about events such as Mary I and Phillip of Spain’s wedding banquet.

Sara Gangai led members on a walk around Middle Brook Street, explaining its 2000 year history and including a peek at a hidden 15th century wall painting.

Finally, our own chair, Keith Leaman, stepped in as a replacement guide at the last minute and took members on a lovely amble along the Itchen, with information on buildings and history.

We would like to thank our guides, all of whom are volunteers, for giving up their time to share their knowledge and enthusiasm.

members’ visits

Every year we organise outings for our members to a diverse selection of interesting venues away from Winchester.  In the past these have included Spitalfields, Longford Castle, Bletchley Park, West Dean Gardens and Goodwood House.  Expert guides discuss the history and points of interest.

2023 Members’ Visits Programme

This year there were visits for members to Old Portsmouth (25th May), Houghton Lodge and Gardens (9th June), West Horsley and the Theatre in the Woods (27th July) and Longford Castle (2nd September).

Old Portsmouth

Rerport by Liz Scott

Travelling by car or by train, we all met up for coffee at the café overlooking the Spinnaker Tower before joining Blue Badge Guide Don Bryan at the Cathedral. After a brief introduction, he explained the reasons underlying the town’s architecture, including the areas that had been flattened by bombs in WW2, and other areas which remained unscathed. As a result, delightful streets of Georgian houses are interspersed with post-war architecture.

We proceeded east down St Thomas Street to St George’s Road - here stands the North gate to Portsmouth. Crossing close to buildings of Portsmouth Grammar School, we walked back along the High Street. Here is the garden and window featuring John Pound’s Cobbler Shop - workshop and ragged school. John Pounds, 1766-1839, unable to work as a shipwright, had become a shoemaker/cobbler, teaching poor children without charging fees. His enthusiasm paved the way for free education to reduce poverty.

Walking further along the High Street we came to ‘The George Hotel’ from which Nelson left for his ship HMS Victory. We traced his journey along Pembroke Road, passing the former Royal Naval Club & Royal Albert Yacht Club (left) which overlooks the Green southwards to the sea.

Walking from here by the Governor’s Green, we passed the disused Royal Garrison Church, through the tunnel and up on to the promenade. Here Nelson would have embarked on a lighter to be taken out to the Victory. We continued to the Grand Parade, Square Tower - ammunitions storage (ideal target position!), then to the Round Tower and back to ‘The Still & West’. Here we had a delicious lunch in the warm sunshine by the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour.

Houghton Lodge and Gardens, near Stockbridge

Report by Sue Owers

On a beautiful June day a party of members took a trip to the other side of Stockbridge for a wonderful tour of Houghton Lodge and Gardens on the banks of the River Test.

We were greeted by Sophie and Daniel Busk the owners, and after coffee in the Orangery, Daniel took us on a tour of the house which was built in the 1790s in the picturesque “Cottage Ornée” style of Gothic architecture.

Daniel was an entertaining host with many tales of the responsibilities and pleasures of owning such an exotic property, which has been in his family for three generations. It was probably built as a fishing lodge, and of course, fishing is still an important aspect of life on the Test.

We were able to wander over the water meadows and carriers to the river, passing on the way a collection of vintage fire engines which reflect part of the family history since Daniel’s grandfather was Commander of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in the early part of the 20th century.

The formal gardens have been extended and improved by Sophie and her team in recent years to include an Oriental Garden and lake and a spectacular long border. The peonies and roses in particular made a beautiful display which we enjoyed as we lunched on the terrace in the shade.

The gardens are open throughout the season and there are regular scheduled house tours which can be booked online - we highly recommend a visit to members who could not come with us in June.

West Horsley Place and the Theatre in the Woods

Report by Keith Leaman

Until 2015 West Horsley Place was the home of the Duchess of Roxborough who unexpectedly willed it to her nephew Bamber Gascoigne. He formed a Trust to resurrect this historic building and evolve it into a project for all to enjoy.

The 360 acre estate is now divided into two entirely different experiences, the historic house and its outbuildings and gardens and the opera house, both completely separate institutions.

Horsley Place has a long and interesting history, with the core of the current building being constructed around 1457. It was once owned by Henry VIII, and later by the son of Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1645 a new fashionable early renaissance facade was added along the front elevation of the timber-framed house - one would not obtain planning permission for such an undertaking today! Neither would you obtain building regulations, as it was built as a rather insecure brick wall which has parted company from the old facade by about 150 mm. Despite this it has stood for well over 300 years.

In more recent years West Horsley Place was owned by the diplomat Lord Crewe. He was a collector of books, the best of which were left by the Duchess of Roxborough to the Wren Building at Trinity College Cambridge, but there are still thousands left in the building.

The 6 acre walled garden contains a very impressive brick wall, some of it in serpentine form, all looked after by one professional gardener helped by volunteers.

Bamber Gascoigne and his wife’s dream was to create an art centre for music, art and ceramics. A start has been made, having converted the listed barns into a series of venues. It will be very interesting to see how this evolves.

Not long after Bamber Gascoigne inherited , he was surprised by a visit from a group of people who had identified West Horsley Place as a possible opera venue. They were, of course, representatives of Grange Park Opera, led by that indefatigable lady, Wasfi Kani.

Bamber Gascoigne embraced the idea and agreed to proceed. In just over a year from the agreement, an opera house was conceived, planning permission was obtained and a large building was completed - a truly remarkable effort by all concerned. The building itself, designed by the architectural firm of Tim Ronalds, is an attractive rotunda that sits satisfactorily in an idyllic setting, with brick-faced form in a diaper pattern which helps to reduce the visual scale. It is still further enhanced by a canopied entrance that wraps around the building.

2022 Members’ Visits Programme

Greenwich

Report by Sue Owers

On what then seemed a hot summer’s day in June, 16 Trust members caught an early train to Waterloo and walked down to the London Eye on the Embankment where several river cruise companies now compete for the tourist dollar on trips up and down the river. We had booked with the Uber boat and had a comfortable 45 minute journey down river to Greenwich with excellent views of all the Thames side sites and the city skyline.

The pier at Greenwich is only a moment’s walk from the Visitor Centre at the Old Royal Naval College, which contains an exhibition summarising the history of this extraordinary complex of buildings. This was the site of the Palace of Placentia or Greenwich Palace beloved of Tudor monarchs, but by the late 17th century it had fallen into disrepair and William and Mary commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to build a Hospital for Seamen. The veterans of the French, Dutch and American wars were housed in palatial surroundings until the Hospital closed in 1869 and the buildings were converted into the Royal Naval College. That in its turn closed in 1998, but educational use continues as much of the site is leased to the University of Greenwich and the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. This means that the grounds are full of groups of students chatting and working, and music wafts from the windows of every rehearsal room.

Our tour guide led us through various parts of the site but concentrated on the Painted Hall and its Undercroft, the Nelson Room and the Chapel – all of which are open to the public without charge. The Painted Hall was created by Sir James Thorneyhill between 1707 and 1726 - his equivalent of the Sistine Chapel - and has been beautifully restored in recent years.

After an al fresco lunch at the Old Brewery on site, we made our way across the road to the Queen’s House for our afternoon tour. Two knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides explained the history of the house and its architectural significance as the first truly classical Palladian building in Britain designed by Inigo Jones. Of course, it predates the Royal Naval College by 60 years so perhaps we should have done the tours the other way round – but the photograph above shows how Sir Christopher Wren designed his ranges of buildings along the axis of the Queen’s House – and that UNESCO was right to designate Maritime Greenwich a World Heritage Site and describe it as “the finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles”.

Our day ended with a whistlestop tour of the dramatic interior of the Queen’s House and its art collection, including the Armada Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, one of George Romney’s portraits of Emma, Lady Hamilton and many fine naval battle pictures by the Dutch marine painters William Van de Velde, father and son. We then wearily made our way back to the pier for another delightful journey along the river back to Waterloo.

Of course, we had not even attempted to include the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, the Cutty Sark or the wider parkland. Frankly there is so much to see at Greenwich that it is probably better suited to a long weekend than a day trip!

Painted Churches

Report by David Barber

This much-postponed trip took place on 5 July, and could have been called Twenty Trust Members Go on a Coach Trip to Five Interesting Churches in Hampshire and West Sussex, Some of Them With Paintings.

The Church of St Hubert at Idsworth dates from somewhere around the 9th century. In 1913 the architect H.S.Goodhart-Rendel was commissioned to restore it. He did so with such sensitivity and artistry that experts still disagree whether some parts are mediaeval or twentieth century. Its major feature is a wall painting in the chancel dated to 1330. Half of it shows the dance of Salome and the beheading of John the Baptist. The other is a hunting scene in which the quarry is a very hairy man, variously identified as John the Baptist and St Hubert. Although there is no local population centre, the church is active and thriving.

The church of St Mary and St Gabriel in South Harting was built in 1300, but the most important date in its history is 1576, when a major fire destroyed it, leaving only the main outer walls. The rebuilt roof timbers are the most remarkable feature of the chancel. The nave ceiling is simpler but still a marvellous example of Elizabethan wood work.

St Paul’s church at Elsted is described as Saxon, though it is likely that only the nave was built pre-conquest, with the chancel in the late 11th century or early 12th century. Like so many other local churches it deteriorated seriously during the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1951, the vicar of Elsted, Rev Fernely Parkhouse, took on the task of restoring the church, employing the architect J E M McGregor, who used the surviving north wall but made no attempt to restore the original nave as it had been, using a lot of recycled stone and producing a robust but somewhat spartan building which looks quite odd, but remains an active church .

St George at Trotton was built in the early 14th century in the decorated style. Its main feature is a huge Doom Painting occupying the entire west wall of the church. On the left (south) side are the seven deadly sins which have faded due to exposure to sunshine from the adjacent window, but on the right (north) side, the seven virtues are remarkably distinct after 800 years.

Between our visits to South Harting and Elsted, we had an excellent lunch at the Three Horseshoes in Elsted which was greatly enjoyed by all. Time constraints meant we were unable to get to the fifth church on the itinerary, East Meon.

Grateful thanks are due to our guide, Chris Maxse, and to Iain and Penny Patton, who did their best to keep us in order.

2021 Members’ Visits Programme

Salisbury Cathedral Close and Arundells

Report by Sue Owers

On a warm, sunny day in September, 25 members and their guests met on Choristers’ Green in Salisbury Close for the first Members’ Outing since the pandemic. We started with a walking tour of the Close itself led by two of Salisbury’s Blue Badge Guides, who were a fount of knowledge about every single building. At 80 acres, Salisbury is the largest cathedral close in the country and was laid out in the 13th century for the Canons of the new cathedral to build “fair houses of stone”.

Most of the houses have been altered, rebuilt or repurposed many times. The Grade I listed King’s House for example, started life as the Sherborne Canonry – where the Abbots of Sherborne stayed when in town on ecclesiastical and political business. After the Reformation it was renamed following visits by James I. Later it housed Godolphin Girls’ School, then became part of a teacher training college. In 1979 it was acquired for the Salisbury Museum and now houses their world famous collections of Neolithic and Stonehenge related material amongst much else.

We saw plaques to William Golding, Salisbury’s Nobel laureate, who wrote “The Lord of the Flies” while an English Master at Bishop Wordsworth’s School, and was inspired by the view from his study window to write “The Spire”, his novel about the building of Salisbury Cathedral.

On the narrow lane leading to St Ann’s Gate is a plaque commemorating the three Protestant martyrs burnt at the stake for refusing to acknowledge the pope’s authority during the reign of Queen Mary.

Above St Ann’s Gate is a small room which was a chapel until the reformation and later became a music room belonging to Malmesbury House, where Handel is said to have given his first English Concert.

In the afternoon we were given a private guided tour of Arundells. It too was a school at one stage and fell into disrepair before it was restored and then purchased by Sir Edward Heath in 1985. He spent the rest of his life there hosting many famous visitors and grand parties. It is now maintained by a trust and is still furnished with all of his possessions which clearly reflect his political life and his passions for music and sailing. The day ended with a stroll through the beautiful gardens that run down to the river Avon.

The Edward Barnsley Workshop and All Saints Church, Steep

Report by Iain Patton

On 10th November ,12 members of the Trust converged upon the Workshop at Steep and were greeted by James Ryan, designer, craftsman and manager of the workshop. He is its inspiration. We were shown the store of maturing timber of varying lengths and thicknesses. It is stored for five years under cover and we learned of the origins of the different pieces, some all the way from the Scottish Borders and Highlands.

We then moved into the machine shop to see an array of sophisticated machines, many computer controlled and housed in an old, much modernised building. From there we entered the main working area and saw several craftspeople at work, all showing great skill and patience. Our final stop was the showroom to see a number of pieces, large and small, and all quite dazzling in quality and style. The Workshop is a haven of skills and style.

Finally, we visited the nearby All Saints Church in Steep, where we were given a history of the church and guidance on its most interesting features by a member of the church. Of these, attention focused on the window by Laurence Whistler in memory of Edward Thomas, the First World War poet, who was killed in action at the Battle of Arras in 1917.

2020 Members’ Visits Programme

The Edward Barnsley workshop

An edited report by Trust Council member Judith Martin

On a sunny but chilly morning on Friday 13th March – just a week before the Covid-19 lockdown began and no-one was allowed to go anywhere – a lucky bunch of Trust members convened beside a back road in Froxfield, near Petersfield. We were there to visit the Edward Barnsley workshop.

Edward Barnsley was born in 1900, the son of Sidney Barnsley and nephew of Ernest, who were both master builders and furniture makers and significant figures in the Arts and Crafts movement. Simon Jenkins, in England's Thousand Best Churches, describes Sidney's church of St Sophia (now the Church of Jesus Christ and the Wisdom of God) in Tadworth, Surrey (now Grade 1 listed), as a neo-Byzantine treasure house.

Edward was sent to Bedales school, down the road from Froxfield, and never quite left. In 1922 he worked with Ernest Gimson (with whom his father and uncle had worked before) on the Lupton Memorial Library at the school; that is now also listed Grade I. Pevsner described Gimson as 'the greatest of the English artist-craftsmen', so the young Barnsley was taught by the very best masters.

Barnsley established his workshop in a modest series of buildings in 1923, and continued to work until his death in 1987. During his lifetime, in 1980, the Edward Barnsley Educational Trust was founded, to continue his work and offer apprenticeships. James Ryan, the workshop manager and our guide on the day, began as an apprentice there in 1992 and was recently awarded a Master Furniture Maker Certificate by the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers.

Apprentices stay for up to three years, at the end of which they are capable of the extraordinary work the workshop produces. James showed how they begin with a simple piece of work - bookends or a candlestick - graduating next to a small wall-hung cabinet using different woods and techniques. Even the brass lock is made by the apprentice.

Each piece of timber is named and labelled. For me the most striking thing we saw was a vast slice of oak, about 2.5m x 1.5m, complete with bark and burrs. James had yet to decide what to do with it. The table tops he designs are vastly more sophisticated, with patterned inlays and fine veneers, but a table of this slab would be in the early tradition of Edward Barnsley.

We saw a number of pieces that were being prepared to be shown at Masterpiece London in June. Inevitably that has been cancelled because of the coronavirus. The workshop is closed and James is principally concerned about the apprentices and the interruption to their training. But this is a wonderful traditional enterprise that has grown successfully into the 21st century, and – as long as people and institutions value the unique and handmade – will surely continue to flourish.

Photos courtesy of James Ryan and the Edward Barnsley Workshop Annual Review 2018. For more information, please visit www.barnsley-furniture.co.uk

2019 Members’ Visits Programme

The first visit of 2019 was to Middle Temple and 2 Temple Place, London on 12th April, and included a tour of Middle Temple, including the Elizabethan Great Hall where Twelfth Night was first performed in 1602. In the afternoon members had a guided tour of 2 Temple Place (at the bottom of Essex St just off the Strand), described as a “perfect gem of late Victorian Art, Architecture and Design”, and built as the estate office for William Waldorf Astor in 1895. Members were also able to view their current exhibition of works by John Ruskin in his bicentenary year.

The second visit took place on 29th April and was a coach tour to Wadworth’s Brewery in Devizes and Crofton Pumping Station near Marlborough. Originally founded by Henry Alfred Wadworth in 1875, Wadworth’s stunning Victorian tower brewery is a landmark in the centre of Devizes and attracts visitors from across the world. Pubs signs are still hand painted in the sign shop and the Wadworth shire horses deliver daily around the town. At Crofton there was a guided tour of the steam-driven beam engines, the oldest of which was built in 1812, which lift water from a nearby spring to the summit of the canal in Savernake Forest.

The third visit was a coach trip to south London on 5th June to visit first the Red House at Bexleyheath (designed by Philip Webb for William Morris), and then Eltham Palace, which was built for Edward IV in the 1470s and was later restored and extended in Art Deco style for the Courtauld family in the 1930s.

Future visits

Below are some possible other visits for future years. Not all have been researched, but we would much appreciate your comments on them. We are keen to get an idea of the likely support for each visit, as some require a good deal of preparation and we wish to avoid organising a visit only to find it has to be cancelled because of a lack of numbers.

Please send comments on the suggestions below and your ideas for other possible visits to our secretary, Tessa, at secretary@cityofwinchestertrust.co.uk or phone 01962 851664.

•     Portsmouth Dockyard
•     Portsmouth fortifications
•     Museum of Army Flying, Middle Wallop
•     Quarr Abbey, IOW
•     Bedford Park, a compact Arts & Crafts suburb in West London
•     Kew Gardens
•     Wells

agm 2023

The Trust was very pleased to welcome members to St Peter’s Pastoral Centre in Jewry Street on 3rd October. After the formal business, Kim Wilkie, the internationally renowned landscape architect, gave a talk on the landscape and waterways of Winchester and the implications for development. A healthy debate ensued and gave us and the speaker food for thought. A report on Kim’s talk was published in the December 2023 issue of TrustNews.

volunteering with the trust

We are always on the lookout for volunteers who can help the Trust with its work. Do you have a valuable skill or interest? Would you like to contribute to the Trust’s views on housing, Winchester’s economy or transport? Would you like to join one of our Planning Appraisal Group panels? Maybe you have an idea for a Summer Walk topic, or could even lead a walk or help organise the walks programme. Recently, members have played a crucial role helping the Trust and Winchester City Council Conservation Officers to survey buildings in the City’s Conservation Area for the Council’s Future 50 project.

Please do email or phone our secretary, Tessa Robertson, if you would like to help in any way. We are particularly looking for help with public relations and communications.