Of Hyde Abbey nothing but an old gateway near St. Bartholomew’s Church, and some slight fragments of wall, remain; but a considerable portion was standing until the ruins were pulled down to provide the site for a new Bridewell, which has vanished in its turn.  The property has now come into the hands of the Corporation, and scientific excavations have been commenced.  Strong hopes are entertained that Alfred’s tomb may be found, although the iconoclasts of the Reformation and the Magistrates of later days have made the task a difficult, if not an impossible one.  In 1901 Alfred’s thousandth anniversary was celebrated at Winchester, and on September 20 of that year Lord Rosebery unveiled Hamo Thorneycroft’s magnificent bronze statue, standing in the Broadway, and bearing on its granite pedestal the single word, eloquent in its simplicity:—­

     AELFRED.

Interesting and important as are the associations of Alfred and St. Swithun with this ancient capital of Wessex, the genius loci is William of Wykeham, one of the most remarkable men the world has ever produced.  The more we study his life and character the more we are amazed at the versatile nature of his splendid gifts.  Born, like Wolsey, the only other clerical architect with whom he can be compared, of humble parents, in the sleepy little village of Wickham, in the autumn of 1324, he early attracted the attention of Sir John Scures, the lord of the manor of Wickham, and Constable of Winchester Castle.  By Sir John’s influence he became a scholar at the Priory School, the “Great Grammar School of Winchester”, then situated just outside the west wall of the priory enclosure.  Taught by the brethren of St. Swithun’s, he was eventually recommended to Bishop Edington, who appears to have appreciated the great talent for architecture shown by young Wykeham.  Edington himself was no mean builder, and he had already begun to rebuild the west front of the cathedral, and to transform the nave from the Norman to the Perpendicular style, a transformation that was to be completed by Wykeham when he succeeded his old master in the episcopacy.

In Wykeham’s twenty-third year Edward III came to Winchester, and he, having heard of the clever young architect, wished to test his skill in the warfare then being waged against Scotland and France, and particularly in the new fortifications of Calais.  On taking service with the King, plain William Wykeham became Sir William de Wykeham, and as Surveyor of Works he superintended such buildings as St. Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster, and the castles of Dover and Queensborough.  In 1356 he was in charge of Windsor Castle, which, as his birthplace, Edward wished to beautify by many additions.  It has been said that the Round Tower Wykeham built at Windsor made the fortune of its designer.  We now find Wykeham Warden of all the royal castles, and sub-dean of the church of St. Martins-le-Grand, on the site of which is the General Post Office; and as a public notary he was present at the signing of the Treaty of Bretigny.