Winchester
Winchester – the 8th burh to be cited in the Burghal Hidage
Kingdom | Type of Burh | No. of Hides | O.S. Grid Ref |
Wessex | Burghal Town | 2400 | SU48102950 |
Martin Biddle suggests that, prior to the establishment of the burh, Anglo-Saxon settlement within the walled area of the Roman Town consisted of “a royal residence, a cathedral church and its community, an unknown but probably small number of estates of high social status, and perhaps a street market and some service population along the eastern part of the main through route, ceap stræt, by c. 9001.The establishment of the burh resulted un a planned street layout with an east – west main thoroughfare, two parallel side streets to the north and the south of the main thoroughfare, and north – south streets at right angles to the main thoroughfare running to an intra-mural street 2.Excavations have confirmed that this street pattern extended over the south east quarter of the town, but were later obscured by the construction of New Minster in 901-3, extension of the monastic precincts in the 960s and by the construction of a royal palace c. 1070 3.
1 Biddle, M., (1976) “Towns” p. 119, in Wilson, D. M. (ed) “The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England” Methuen & Com Ltd, pp 99-150
2 ibid pp 129-130
3 ibid p 130
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