Near the entrance on the north side there is a remarkable door of grille work, thought to be of the eleventh or twelfth century, perhaps the oldest specimen in England. It was formerly near the choir, and the object was, it is said, to keep unsavoury and diseased pilgrims at a safe distance. “Perhaps some of them were like the pilgrims in the East at the present day,” said Mr. Hertford; “it was not always easy to determine ‘where the dirt ended and the saint began.’” FOOTNOTES: [62] He says that the monastery at this time extended all round the church; but it is difficult to understand his description, except that the palace and chief offices were on the south. [63] Rudborne is supposed to have put Dagon for Woden, but he had mentioned the latter just before. [64] “Gloucester Fragment,” published by the Rev. S. Earle. [65] Edred gave a great gold cross and figures to the monastery. [66] Cnut patronized poets, and made verses himself, which at that time showed religious tendencies. Emma, “The Rose of Normandy,” was celebrated for her beauty; she was called by the English Ælfgifu. It is remarkable that at the time when she was married at Winchester to her first husband, Ethelred, the massacre of the Danes was plotted here. [67] “Chronicle of a Monk of Winchester.” [68] Athelstan had given the head of St. Just. [69] After reading such accounts we can understand the Recorder of Winchester being suspended in 1657, because among other offences he did not reprove a man for saying that “if all writings and pens were at liberty it would make the Protector as black as the blackest devil in hell.” [70] The cost of whipcord for these operations figures in the City Rolls. The sufferers were stripped to the waist, and the irons for the women were fixed lower than for the men, to avoid injury to the breasts; after 1790 the old theatre was used partly as a store, partly as a lock-up or watch-house. In the reign of Henry VIII. the pillory and cage were in the “Square.” [71] There is now here a balcony whence the bishops bestowed their blessings on festivals. [72] The cross and two figures of Mary and St. John in silver and gold, given by Stigand, then stood over the rood screen, which was just at the top of the stairs. The space between it and the present screen was occupied by chapels, and afterwards by vestries, removed in Charles I.’s time. [73] This Cathedral, measuring 556 feet from the western entrance to the end of the Lady Chapel, is the longest in England or on this side of the Alps. It is inferior in area only to two English cathedrals, York and Lincoln. [74] Two figures of the Perpendicular period remain in the west window. A little of the glass in Fox’s east gable window is of later date. [75] Colonel Nathaniel Fiennes stood with a drawn sword to preserve Wykeham’s Chantry when Cromwell took Winchester.