Chichester and our friends’ home.
We spent a weekend in Chichester, a pretty coastal city in Sussex. Our friends live there and invited us to spend the weekend.
The town is marked by the Cathedral, which dates to 1075.
In front of the cathedral is a statue of St Richard.
Cathedral from north-west with St Richards millenium statue in the foreground
Chichester Cathedral was built to replace the cathedral founded in 681 by St. Wilfrid for the South Saxons at Selsey. The seat of the bishop was transferred in 1075.[2] It was consecrated in 1108 under Bishop Ralph de Luffa. In 1187 a fire which burnt out the cathedral and destroyed much of the town necessitated a substantial rebuilding, which included refacing the nave and replacing the destroyed wooden ceiling with the present stone vault, possibly by Walter of Coventry. The cathedral was reconsecrated in 1199
Our friends live on a small street of old homes.
The street runs only one block and is not connected to the other streets, except at one point. Their home is quite pretty and is three stories high.
The third floor does not face the street. There is a very nice back garden, the rear wall of which is the original Roman wall of the city.
The garden is entered from the kitchen and the kitchen is a very comfortable room with room for a dinner party at the large table.
The kitchen viewed from the garden door. the window looks onto the street in front. The kitchen has a large Agfa Range to one side under an arch.
Susi prepared dinner for about six or eight each evening of the weekend as there were other house guests in town for the Goodwood Revival, a huge vintage sports car rally.
The town is a lovely small city with the streets filled with typical English faces and lots of young mothers pushing prams.
The street is one of two major cross streets that date from Roman times. At the town center is a “cross” with an image of King Charles I.
The cross marks the center of town. When I was there a few years ago for a visit there was an antiquities shop where I purchased a Roman lamp. Unfortunately, the shop is no longer there.
We had a pleasant lunch in this pub. I had steak and ale pie. It was delicious. On Sunday, we left for Dover and the ferry to Belgium.
