The King's House in Winchester was a late 17th-century planned royal palace in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. Winchester had been the capital of

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in Anglo-Saxon times, but became a backwater after the Norman Conquest of England. Built for King Charles II of England by Sir Christopher Wren from 1683 to 1685, the King's House stood on a site adjoining the castle it was to replace, and modelled after the Palace of Versailles, though on a somewhat smaller scale. It was to have sweeping views, walks and gardens descending to the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

. Although it was structurally completed, the money to complete it ran out and the project was eventually abandoned after the death of Charles II in February 1685. Wren had cheerfully assured the King that the house would be complete in a year, to which Charles, who was feeling his age, made his famous reply that "a year is a great time in my life". The building was gutted by fire in 1894 and demolished.Fraser p.432 Columns and parts of the decorative masonry were reused in the

Peninsula Barracks The Peninsula Barracks are a group of military buildings in Winchester, Hampshire. History The barracks, which were originally known as the Upper Barracks, Winchester, were built in the early 20th century on the site of King's House, an unfini ...

building which replaced it in 1900, and which now include

Winchester's Military Museums Winchester's Military Museums are a group of six independent and related regimental museums in Peninsula Barracks and Lower Barracks in Winchester, Hampshire. The museums are: * HorsePower: The Museum of the King's Royal Hussars * Royal Hampsh ...

References

{{Royal palaces in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures completed in 1683 Houses completed in the 17th century Christopher Wren buildings Country houses in Hampshire History of Winchester Palaces in England Royal residences in England 1683 establishments in England