Hyde, Winchester, Hampshire, England

Notes:
The area of Hyde in Winchester has become a place name synonymous with King Alfred the Great, whose bones were moved moved to Hyde Abbey in 1110.



Hyde was once the most northerly of the old suburbs of the city, a meadow, known as Hyde Mead. Running close by was the Roman road to Silchester. Hyde Abbey was built in this suburb after the overcrowding at the New Minster and Old Minster became too much to bear. The Abbey was built with great speed in 1109 and the monks were able to move to Hyde in 1110.

It was a fairly large suburb, which, in the Civil War of 1141 between the Empress Matilda and King Stephen, was severely damaged. None the less, by 1150, the city had a flourishing economy and the suburbs, including that of Hyde were growing. Parish churches built of stone and timber framed houses built on dwarf stone walls would have been part of the community of Hyde.



Hyde Abbey itself would have suffered damage during the civil war but probably benefited from Bishop Henry de Blois’s fascination with architecture, in particular his interest in classical architecture. He made use of Purbeck marble as ornament in his buildings whenever he could and this included Hyde Abbey.



Later under King Richard’s and King John’s reigns, the city of Winchester prospered, the gild merchant gained more powers, the city walls stood as a powerful symbol, it gained its own seal and permission was given to it to plead cases outside the city walls. This was a freedom of urban life sought after in Medieval England and Hyde would have benefited from this.



The abbey did not survive the Dissolution of the monasteries and by 1539 its destruction was complete and all that was left was Abbey Field, the site of a later gaol and the gate house.

Marriage

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

	Family	Marriage		Family ID
1	Emerye / Benet	10 May 1565	Hyde, Winchester, Hampshire, England	F253