The Impact of the Vikings on Churches in Wessex

Hampshire and its neighbouring counties of Berkshire and Wiltshire were at the core of West Saxon Wessex when the Viking raids swept through. The emerging Christian churches were attacked and the fragile shoots of the new religion stamped upon.

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The Mysteries of Wymering Manor

Wymering Manor in Portsmouth is one of Hampshire’s oldest and allegedly, most haunted houses. From the outside it presents a bit of a sorry state and its exterior belies its ancient past but it is a house full on intrigue and mystery.

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Corhampton Church and King Cnut

Corhampton Church

A possible link between Corhampton church and King Cnut The Anglo Saxon church is awash with historical gems and it’s interesting to consider some of the connections made between its architecture and artefacts and other events that occurred in its long history. Go to the northern side of the church and look at the blocked…

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Nunnaminster Winchester

Ruins of Nunnaminster Winchester

Nunnaminster in Winchester was the Saxon abbey founded in 903AD by King Alfred and his wife Ealhswith. It was a wooden structure re-built in stone and then enlarged by the Normans.

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Romsey Abbey

Romsey Abbey Hampshire

Romsey Abbey is an imposing Romanesque church and once one of the most important ecclesiastical sites in England. It’s Abbesses came from royal and high status families and before the black death amassed great wealth.

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Hayling Priory

Medieval Tile Hayling

Hayling Island Priory has long since disappeared without trace but the history of it’s links with the French abbey of Jumièges is well documented and an intriguing part of Hampshire history

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Mystery of King Alfred’s Final Resting Place

The mystery of King Alfred’s final resting place may be closer to being resolved as St Bartholemew’s church at Hyde prepares to ask for permission to exhume and identify the bones in an unmarked grave at the church.

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King Alfred and The Vikings

King Alfred’s life was dominated by the incessant attacks by the Vikings but how did Alfred succeed in defeating them when so many other kings had failed and did that defeat then propel him to become King of all England.

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Wherwell Abbey

The quintessentially English village of Wherwell has played an important part in the history of the county of Hampshire, hidden beneath its meadows is the Abbey of Wherwell, established in the C10th century as a form of penance by Queen Elfrida

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Hampshire The Oldest Shire in England

Over a thousand years ago, Hampshire held the seat of power in England. It is the first of England’s shires to appear in the historical record, ‘The AngloSaxon Chronicle’. AD 757, it tells us that the councillors of the West Saxons; ‘deprived Sigeberht of his kingdom, except for Hampshire.’ Hampshire as a unit of government is…

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Cenwalh Anglo Saxon King

Winchester became the heart of the kingdom of Wessex thanks to the dynasty of the early Saxon king Cerdic but it was Cenwwalh, who, on converting to Christianity, established Winchester as an ecclesiastical centre whose force was felt throughout northern Europe.

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Old Minster Winchester

The Footprint of Old Minster Winchester

The Old Minster Winchester was one of the most important religious houses and places of pilgrimage in the late Anglo Saxon period. It was the initial resting place of King Alfred the Great and the place where King Canute and Edward the Confessor were crowned.

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What is a Hampshire Hog?

People of Hampshire are colloquially referred to as ‘Hampshire Hogs’ a reference to the Hampshire Pig which was bred out of the wild boar that roamed the New Forest a thousand years ago

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