Winchester Cathedral Trivia Quiz

Answer: Saint Swithun

Swithun, whose birth date is not recorded, but who died in 862, was Bishop of Winchester in Anglo-Saxon times, probably from 852 until his death. He asked to be buried outside the Cathedral so that people could walk over his grave and so that the rain fall on it. He was buried in the churchyard, but in 971 when the Cathedral was enlarged, his remains were moved inside. Legend has it that it then rained for 40 days and 40 nights - so, it is said that if it rains on St Swithun's Day (15 July) it will rain for the next 40 days.

Stephen Gardiner was Bishop of Winchester during the reign of Mary I. He was the officiating priest at her marriage to Philip of Spain.

William of Wykeham, in addition to being Bishop of Winchester from 1366-1404, also founded Winchester College, and New College, Oxford. He was Chancellor or England and was involved in the rebuilding of Windsor Castle.

Samuel Wilberforce was Bishop of Winchester from 1870-73. He is best known for his opposition to Darwin's Theory of Evolution, but he was also Chaplain to Prince Albert, Bishop of Oxford and a Dean of Westminster.

Answer: William Walker

Winchester Cathedral is surrounded by water meadows and a floodplain. In the early 1900s waterlogged foundations to the south and east walls meant that the whole building was in grave danger of collapse. William Walker worked underwater, at depths of up to twenty feet, in the dark, for six hours a day for six years (1906 to 1912) packing the foundations with bags of concrete, concrete blocks and bricks.

His work is credited with saving the cathedral. A bust of him in the crypt, which still floods, commemorates his work.

Answer: Izaak Walton

Izaak (or Izaac) Walton was born in Stafford in 1593. His best known book is "The Compleat Angler", which is the classic book on fishing. It is one of the most reprinted books in English literature. He also wrote a biography of John Donne, who was a great friend of his. He died in Winchester in 1683 and is buried in the cathedral.

Wisden is the authoritative book on cricket.
Charles Cotton was a friend of Walton's, another angler.

Answer: The Round Table

Winchester Castle was built in 1067, but only the great hall now remains. The Round Table of Arthurian legend is not the original (if indeed that ever existed), but it is very old, having been dated to 1275. It was originally plain wood, but was painted in its present form for Henry VIII. Around the edge are the names of all of Arthur's knights.

Answer: King Alfred

Winchester was the capital of Wessex, and then England until after the Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book was compiled in the city. King Alfred, known as Alfred the Great, was the first King of the combined Anglo-Saxons. A statue of him in heroic pose, sword aloft, was erected in the city centre in 1899, and is a well known local landmark.

A local legend says that if a virgin of 16 years of age or over walks clockwise round the statue three times Alfred will lower his sword. This has never been seen to happen.

Answer: Oliver Cromwell

Winchester Castle has many royal connections. Henry III was born there, and added the great hall. The daughter of Edward IV, Margaret of York, was born there and in 1603 Sir Walter Raleigh was tried in the great hall for treason for his part in the Main Plot. During the English Civil War the castle declared for the Royalist side, but fell to the Parliamentarians in 1646. Oliver Cromwell then ordered it destroyed. Only the great hall, now used as a local history museum, survives.

Answer: Jane Austen

When Jane Austen became ill in 1817 she was referred to a doctor in Winchester, where she rented a house for the last few weeks of her life. She is buried in the Cathedral, in the north aisle of the nave. Her gravestone makes no mention of her as a novelist, probably because most of her books were published posthumously.

A marker giving details of her achievements as a novelist was placed on a nearby wall sometime later.

Answer: False

Anthony Trollope was sent to Winchester College in 1827, when he was just 12 and the College always had close connections with the Cathedral, having been founded by a previous Bishop. However, the inspiration for the Barsetshire Chronicles derives from a visit to Salisbury in 1852.

Answer: Winston Churchill

Eton, Harrow, Winchester, the three best known public schools in England, have many politicians and businessmen, and much of England's aristocracy. Winston Churchill was educated at Harrow.

Hugh Dowding was in Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command during WWII and is credited with winning the Battle of Britain.

George Mallory was a noted climber who died on Everest.

Oswald Mosely achieved notoriety as the leader of the British Union of Fascists.

Answer: New Vaudeville Band

Released in 1966 the song went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the UK singles chart. It was recorded entirely by session musicians, so an actual band had to be assembled to perform it in live concerts and on television.