The Westgate is one of two surviving fortified gateways in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, England (the other is Kingsgate) formerly part of

Winchester City Walls Winchester city walls are a series of defensive walls in central Winchester, originally built during the Roman settlement of southern Britain, in what was then the settlement of Venta Belgarum. The area surrounding Winchester had been populated ...

. The earliest surviving fabric is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

character. The gate was rebuilt in the 12th century and modified in the 13th and late 14th centuries, the latter including a portcullis in the western façade and two inverted-keyhole gunports (for use with hand-held cannon), the earliest in the country. The gate was in use until 1959 when the High Street was routed around it. In the 19th century the City Corporation (now Winchester City Council) acquired the Westgate and began to use it as a museum and repository for the City archives. In 2014, ownership of the museum space was transferred to Hampshire Cultural Trust. Today, the Westgate Museum's displays include a famous collection of pre-Imperial weights and measures, and a fine painted ceiling made for

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

in anticipation of a visit by Mary Tudor and Philip of Spain on the occasion of their marriage in Winchester in 1554.

References

* Pevsner, N. ''Hampshire: Winchester & the North'' (2010) (with Michael Bullen, John Crook and Rodney Hubbuck) ( Buildings of England series)

External links

{{Commons category
Official web site
Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire Town Gates in England Westgate