Walking past the Guildhall
one comes across Abbey House, now the official residence of the mayors of Winchester. The house and gardens take their name from the site they are on, as it was where the former St Mary's Abbey stood in medieval period. The Abbey was founded in 903 AD by King Alfred's widow Ealswith and survived until the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII.
The site remained empty for about 150 years and then a house was built around 1699. The house has grown and has been much altered since it was first built but it's believed that the original, or part of it, still forms the core.
Box 459,
a light sculpture to commemorate the fallen across the district in the First World War, referencing the remark made by the Foreign Secretary upon the eve of war in 1914: ' the lamps are going out all over Europe: we shall not see them lit again in our life time'.
Box 459 was inspired by the 459 fallen soldiers from the Winchester area. When lit, shafts of light shine through 459 apertures representing the city's lost generation.
The pretty gardens serve as a park today.
Back view of the house and formal garden
the sundial
and this particular walk eventually leads to the Mill.
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