I probably should have warned you that sunglasses were needed for the before shots of the smallest room in the house. This decor is the previous owners handiwork, I quite liked it when we moved in but a change has long been overdue.
Tiling the hallway has been in the planning stage for some time. This project involved the tiles continuing into the downstairs cloakroom leading to the sensible option of changing the downstairs toilet and sink at the same time.
Due to the dark nights I have been unable to take a decent photo of the hallway before the work started to take place. I have found photos from some time ago that also shows the old front door which we have also recently had replaced.
Tags: Cherie's Place, Downstairs Cloakroom, Hall, Home Improvements
Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.
Winston Churchill
Tags: Cherie's Place Thought, Cheshire, Chester, Christmas Tree
At the side of the organ in the south transept [of the Church of St Cross], traces of wall paintings in a tomb recess are the last remains of what was once an altar to St Thomas of Canterbury, the martyred archbishop. A nearby door was where travellers coming from the continent to Canterbury arrived. It would also have been the point of departure for crusaders. Knights of St John would spend their last night praying here before embarking at Southampton for the Holy Land.*
*From the Pitkin guide to The Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty
Tags: The Church of St Cross, Weekend away, Winchester
… ‘a Norman cathedral in miniature’
Simon Jenkins, England’s Thousand Best Churches
The fine Norman church is all that remains of the original 12th century Hospital. Building began in 1135 at the east end with the north porch added nearly 200 years later. The walls are over one metre thick and 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.
On a column on the north aisle is carved the cross of St Cross. In the window nearest to the eastern side of the north transept, the stone surround is strangely angled. Sunlight from the window falls on the cross only on 3rd May (the day in the church calendar of the Invention of the Cross) and 14th September (Holy Cross Day).
Tags: Church, The Church of St Cross, The Hospital of St Cross, Weekend away, Winchester
An oasis of beauty and tranquility, the Master’s Garden includes a wide range of plants with flowering interest throughout the year. The borders are very colourful in the summer months, with shades that are particularly sensitive to the historic location and grey garden walls. The garden includes a border planted to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.
The borders continue to be designed and watched over by horticultural expert and garden owner Victoria Wakefield, the former Chairman of Trustees.
The area incorporates the Compton Garden which commemorates Henry Compton, Master of St Cross from 1667-1675. He later became Bishop of London, when its diocese included America. Bishop Compton created the garden at Fulham Palace with plants from the New World at the time when they were very newly imported into England. This garden therefore also features plants introduced from America into England during Bishop Compton’s lifetime. These have been expertly researched and sourced.
The Compton Garden was relaid in 1986.
The tulip tree in the Compton Garden was planted by Her Majesty Elizabeth The Queen Mother to commemorate her visit to the Hospital of St Cross on 8th July 1986.
Another tree originating from the New World, a cercis Canadensis Texan White was planted by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall to commemorate her visit on 21st February 2008
Tags: Garden, The Church of St Cross, The Hospital of St Cross, Winchester
The Brethren’s Hall is the place where the Brothers of the Hospital of St Cross formerly gathered to dine:
This atmospheric room with its fine roof made of Spanish chestnut was built as the Master’s hall c. 1340. When the Master’s lodging was moved west in the later 16th century it became the Brothers’ own hall.
Almost all of the hall’s original features are still here today: the central hearth where a charcoal fire once burnt: the stairs leading directly from the Master’s lodging; the raised platform where he took his meals at the high table; and the musicians’ gallery. High up in the wall at the east end was a window from which the Master could keep aney on proceedings from his lodgings.
The hall is the scene of the Gaudy Lunch (from the Latin gaudere: to rejoice), traditionally held several times a year in order to bring the Brothers together to enjoy a large convivial feast. Nowadays a Gaudy takes place three times a year.*
Beyond the hall lies the kitchen which was in daily use until the late 19th century. The fireplace dates back to the 15th century.
*From the Pitkin guide to The Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty
Tags: The Hospital of St Cross, Weekend away, Winchester
