here and there a stone-built dwelling, and the rest made of that 'wattle
and dab' construction, of which from time to time examples are still
laid bare in the city."

Although many historical persons flit across the scene throughout the
centuries, the personal associations of Winchester are dominated by the
outstanding figures of Alfred, St. Swithun, and the great clerical
craftsman, William of Wykeham, the builder of much of the cathedral, and
the founder of St. Mary's College, Winchester, and New College,
Oxford--the former of which, although of later foundation, was intended
as a stepping-stone for the latter.

With the Norman Conquest, and the rapid rise of Westminster, the days of
Winchester as the seat of government were numbered, although it was much
favoured by the early Norman kings, possibly owing to its proximity to
such hunting grounds as the New Forest Cranborne Chase (where King
John's hunting lodge still stands), and the Royal Warren of Purbeck.

William I had his great palace near the cathedral, and it was to
Winchester that the body of William Rufus was brought on a cart, after
his ill-fated death in the New Forest.

Then the Domesday Book--if not compiled at Winchester--was kept there
for many years, when it was called "The Book of Winton". In the seventh
year of Henry II a charge appears in the Pipe Roll for conveying the
"arca", in which the book was kept, from Winchester to London.

There is naturally much in the life-history of St. Swithun that is
incapable of proof. He was possibly born in the neighbourhood of
Winchester about the year 800. He became a monk of the old abbey, and