ST GILES HILL GRAVEYARD

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St Giles Hill Graveyard St Giles Hill Graveyard, also known as St. John’s Cemetery is located on the south side of Alresford Road (OS grid reference SU49102938), a main road into Winchester, and is bordered, on the other three sides, by properties on St Giles Hill. It is situated on the north slope of a Chalk hill close to the topographically highest part of St Giles Hill.

Our graveyard should not be confused with Magdalen Hill Cemetery also on the Alresford Road. This cemetery was opened in 1906 to take over from West Hill Cemetery to the west of the city centre. Confusingly Magdalen Hill Cemetery is sometimes referred to as Morn Hill Cemetery. See the map below for the location.

The St Giles Hill Graveyard is disused for new burials the last having taken place in the early 70’s. The graveyard forms part of the estate and parish of St Johns Church, located approximately a quarter of a mile to the west on St Johns Street. St Johns falls within the jurisdiction of the combined parishes of All Saints, St Johns and Chilcomb. The churches associated with St Giles Hill Graveyard, Winchester.

In addition to the medieval St Giles Chapel that occupies the site, two other churches feature in the history of the graveyard; St Peters Chesil and St John the Baptist in the Soke.

The former church of St Peters Cheese Hill occupies a narrow site between Chesil Street and the River Itchen. The church was converted to the Chesil theatre in the 1960s. The church stood outside the City’s East gate and server a thriving business community of tradesmen and craftsmen in Chesil Street. The church was built sometime before 1142 when it was documented that the Priory of St Denis claimed the ‘chapel of St Peter outside Eastgate. It comprises elements of twelfth and thirteenth-century architecture. The construction is of flint and stone, and the pyramidal southeast belfry turret and its roofs are hung with tiles. It has Decorated and Perpendicular windows. The tower is now topped by a weathervane dating from 1984.

In the 18th century a Dr Earle lived in the house next door now ‘The Soke’. He made special arrangements for his elderly mother to enjoy the services without leaving home by installing an opening about 6m from the ground which opened into a small closet in the wall. But by 1897 this had become a source of interruption and the Rector had it bricked up.

The church had no burial ground with parishioners using the cemetery of St Giles on top of the hill. The census of 1851 indicates that the church had a seating capacity of 344 and an average attendance of 260 people. The name Cheese Hill is a corruption of the old Saxon ceosel, meaning gravel.

After WWII the church fell out of use and by 1960 was in danger of falling down. The building was threatened with destruction when Chesil Street was widened. The Winchester Preservation Trust was formed to save the old building. The Diocese of Winchester had no use for the building so the Winchester Dramatic Society accepted the offer of the building rent free but with the responsibility of maintaining the fabric which they still do to this date.

St John the Baptist in the Soke, a short distance from St Peters, is the oldest parish church in Winchester, situated in St Johns St., on the slopes of Magdalen Hill in an area known as The Soke. In mediaeval times it was outside the city walls and the city’s jurisdiction. The exact date when the church was consecrated is uncertain but the building was certainly in existence in 1142. Parts of the building may be significantly older. The tower was built in the fifteenth century. This was one of the last churches pilgrims would attend before setting out for Canterbury. It is built on an early drover’s way into the city from the downs and was once known as St John’s Upperdoune.

The east end of the church is not parallel to the west but is angled to follow the line of the street, once the main road into Winchester from London, and on the Pilgrim’s Way between Winchester and Canterbury. St Johns, which was the church used by the scholars of Winchester College before their college chapel was finished in 1385. St John’s Street follows an old Roman road, which then became a Drover’s road.

A detailed record of the gravestones and their inscriptions was made by P.W. and C.C. Copper in the early 1980’s. Sadly, at this time many of the gravestones were already in a bad state of repair and some were recorded as badly damaged by the growth of self-seeded trees. Many of the inscriptions had become unreadable due to the ravages of time. These records have been used as a basis to map the graves and to construct a digital database. During the process, several additions were made to the database. Please see the the grave database page for details.

The document records inscriptions from 1694 to 1973. There are several gravestones surviving from the late 1600’s. The most recent is from 1973. There are a number of interesting graves in the cemetery, including 7 war graves registered with the Commonwealth War Commission.

The entrance to the graveyard on the south side of the Alresford road is marked by iron railing gates, flanked by traditional flint walling. The wall is in bad repair on one side and a section is missing along the Alresford Road. The track leading into the heart of the graveyard slopes upwards in a southerly direction and is bound by a fine avenue of Lime trees. The track is entrenched perhaps indicating constant use over the decades.

The end of the track marks the start of the older part of the graveyard where the bulk of the graves older than 1850 are located. It is also marked by a break of slope. The break of slope follows the line of an 18th-century road known as Crok Lane that traversed St Giles Hill, and the medieval St Giles Fair site. The lower part of the graveyard was used as pasture at this time.

(See Medieval Graveyard for more details)

Until recently, the older, higher, part of the graveyard above the break of slope had minimal maintenance and was considerably less accessible in the summer months owing to the presence of thick tracts of Brambles and Ivy, Elder shrub and nettles. It is now accessible using paths that have been created in the last couple of years.

 

Although the graveyard is very rundown, it has an atmospheric beauty in the summer sun or in the winter snow. The light reflecting off of the gravestones has a magical and uplifting effect. Art and media students from Winchester and Southampton University can often be seen in the graveyard taking advantage of the opportunities it offers for artistic expression.

The relatives of people buried in the graveyard still visit their loved ones. One day this summer we ran across people from Yorkshire who were visiting the grave of a relative lost in WW1.

The graveyard is also a haven for wildlife. For much of the year, birds abound in the trees and undergrowth.

On warm summer evenings swifts and swallows Circle overhead, to be taken over by bats as twilight sets in. It is likely that the bats’ nest in the ivy-covered trees, as do some species of birds.

The old part of St Giles Hill Graveyard surrounded the medieval chapel that stood at the centre of the St Giles medieval fair. This chapel was dedicated to St Giles, a popular saint in the middle ages. He is the patron saint of woodland, of lepers, beggars, cripples, and of those struck by sudden misery. The emblem of St Giles is the hind, that according to one tradition came to him wounded by an arrow.

Although the first record of the church dates from the 12th century, it is likely that there was a church at this location from a much earlier date. The area was certainly the location of an important Anglo-Saxon burial ground. Today the foundation of the church cannot be seen in the now overgrown graveyard, but it’s position is probably marked by a mound of higher ground, close to the centre of the old graveyard.