We now enter the south transept, the architectural features of which are similar to those of the north transept. Silkstede's Chantry should be visited. This worthy prior loved a rebus, and here carved a skein of _silk_ to represent his name, also the letters THOMAS appear on the screen, the MA being formed differently from the rest to represent his patroness, MARY the Virgin. Isaac Walton's tomb is here, the author of the _Angler_. There are some good mural paintings. The monument of Bishop Wilberforce forms a conspicuous object in the transept. Adjoining Silkstede's Chapel is the Venerable Chapel, with a fine screen. On the west side are the chapter-room and the old treasury. Passing through the chamber on the south we enter the slype. [Illustration The Cathedral West Front.] The library has some treasures, notably a Vulgate of the twelfth century and some valuable MSS. The crypt is entirely Norman work, except the east part, which is Early English. The cloisters and old chapter-house were destroyed in 1563. The Deanery was formerly the home of the prior; its entrance belongs to the time of Henry III., and the hall within the house to the fifteenth century. Over the dean's stables is a long room which was probably the guest-house for pilgrims; rude carvings can be seen on the beams of the roof probably made by the pilgrims. DIMENSIONS Total length, 556 ft.; length of nave, 262 ft.; width of nave and aisles, 88 ft.; height of vault, 78 ft.; area, 53,480 sq. ft. PRINCIPAL BUILDING DATES 1079-1093--Transepts, crypt and cores of piers and wall; 1120--central tower rebuilt; 1202--retro-choir and eastern chapels; 1320--presbytery rebuilt; 1360--west front and two bays of nave; 1394-1486--nave reconstructed; 1487--east end of Lady Chapel; 1520--alterations in presbytery by Bishop Fox. Other objects of interest in Winchester-- The _School_, founded by William of Wykeham; the _Hospital of St. Cross_, founded by Henry de Blois in 1136; _Hyde Abbey_, the resting-place of the body of Alfred the Great; the _County Hall_, with the so-called Round Table of King Arthur; _Wolvesey Castle_, the ancient episcopal palace. [Illustration PLAN OF WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL] FOOTNOTE: [6] St. Swithun became bishop in 837; he was "a diligent builder of churches in places where there were none before, and a repairer of those that had been destroyed before." In modern times his name is best known as a weather prophet; according to the tradition that if it is fine or wet on St. Swithun's day (July 15th) the same weather will last for the next forty days. The legend arose from the moving of his body from the lowly grave in the churchyard to its golden shrine in the Cathedral being delayed on account of continued rain. CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL