WINCHESTER, Hants.--We include Winchester among the castles mentioned or alluded to in Domesday Book, because we think it can be proved that the _domus regis_ mentioned under Alton and Clere is the castle built by William outside the west gate of the city, where the present County Hall is now almost the only remaining relic of any castle at all.[755] Under the head of "Aulton" we are told that the abbot of Hyde had unjustly gotten the manor in exchange for the king's house, because by the testimony of the jurors it was already the king's house.[756] That _excambio domus regis_ should read _excambio terræ domus regis_ is clear from the corresponding entry under Clere, where the words are _pro excambio terræ in qua domus regis est in civitate_.[757] The matter is put beyond a doubt by the confirmatory charter of Henry I. to Hyde Abbey, where the king states that his father gave Aulton and Clere to Hyde Abbey _in exchange for the land on which he built his hall in the city of Winchester_.[758] Where, then, was this hall, which was clearly new, since fresh land was obtained for it, and which must not therefore be sought on the site of the palace of the Saxon kings? The _Liber Winton_, a roll of Henry I.'s time, says that twelve burgesses' houses had been destroyed and the land was now occupied by the king's house.[759] Another passage says that a whole street _outside the west gate_ was destroyed when the king made his ditch.[760] These passages justify the conclusion of Mr Smirke that the king's house at Winchester was neither more nor less than the castle which existed until the 17th century outside the west gate.[761] Probably the reason why it is spoken of so frequently in the earliest documents as the king's house or hall, instead of the castle, is that in this important city, the ancient capital of Wessex, where the king "wore his crown" once a year, William built, besides the usual wooden keep on the motte, a stone hall in the bailey, of size and dignity corresponding to the new royalty.[762] In fact, the hall so magnificently transformed by Henry III., and known to be the old hall of the castle, can be seen on careful examination to have still its original Norman walls and other traces of early Norman work.[763] The palace of the Saxon kings stood, where we might expect to find the palace of native princes, in the middle of the city; according to Milner it was on the site of the present Square.[764] William may have repaired this palace, but that he constructed two royal houses, a palace and a castle, is highly improbable. The castle became the residence of the Norman kings, and the Saxon palace appears to have been neglected.[765] We see with what caution the Conqueror placed his castle at the royal city of Wessex without the walls. Milner tells us that there was no access to it from the city without passing through the west gate.[766] The motte of the castle appears to have been standing in his time, as he speaks of "the