“Begun in 1079 in the Romanesque style, this Cathedral is at the heart of Alfred's Wessex and a diocese, which once stretched from London's Thames to the Channel Islands. Its bishops were men of enormous wealth and power, none more so than William of Wykeham, twice Chancellor of England, Founder of Winchester College and New College Oxford. The chantry chapels and memorials of these great prelates are a feature of the Cathedral. These influential bishops also developed, re-fashioned and adorned this great Cathedral. There, pilgrims sought the shrine of local saints, notably a former bishop, Saint Swithun, whose festival (15 July) was said to set the pattern for the weather for the next forty days.” – Taken from
The site evidence that I used was helpful because it gave me a first hand experience of the cathedral. It allowed me to see the different sizes of the cathedral and it’s different rooms. It also let me see the different styles of architecture for my self. For example, I saw the old English style ceiling in the Nave and the lierne vaulting in the isle.
The guide’s oral evidence was useful because it helped to point out things that I did not know about the cathedral. He showed me where the stained glass window on the western side of the chapel was smashed, and then rebuilt.
There were however disadvantages to the three different types of evidence that I used. The documentary evidence had gaps. There was nothing written about the early cathedral. There were only records from 1079. The documentary evidence did not always give me what I wanted. It did not tell me why the cathedral was built, so I was left to speculate. The provenances of documentary evidence were also a problem. The sources were often possibly biased, or unclear or not stated. For example the official website may have been romanticizing the cathedral in order to attract people to visit it. Some accounts that were found were in Old English, and were difficult to understand. There were also problems with the site evidence. Only certain parts of the Norman cathedral are left. The Nave is now 40ft shorter than it used to be. Some parts of the cathedral are off limits to visitors. I was only allowed to see a small part of the crypt. Also a good knowledge of architectural styles was needed to identify the different sections of the cathedral, and some later additions to the cathedral, were made in the style of a different era. For example, a part of the ceiling inside of the cathedral was done in Tudor style with a rose design and it was not done in the Tudor times. The main weakness in oral evidence given by guides was that guides often contradicted documentary and site evidence, and even each other! One guide told a visitor that the Choir Stall in the cathedral was made out of Scandinavian oak, and then another guide told me that the same Choir Stall was made from English oak.
In conclusion, I would like to say that all three different types of evidence are needed to give you the complete picture of the development of Winchester Cathedral. One type of evidence may makeup for gaps in another type. For example, documentary evidence may tell you that there are different styles of ceiling in different parts of the cathedral, and the site evidence will let you see that and compare them, and to complete the picture oral, evidence will tell you why. Also oral evidence may tell you that something happened; the documentary evidence will tell you when it happened, and finally sit evidence will show you how it happened.
By Aaron Rodericks
