Medieval treasures reunited in Winchester exhibition (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Medieval treasures reunited in Winchester exhibition

11:44am Monday 15th March 2010 in

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AN exhibition into one of the lost glories of Winchester history has opened, five years after a local man first had the idea.

The Treasures of Hyde Abbey celebrates the huge monastery that was destroyed by Henry VIII in the 1530s.

It is the first time the treasures will have been in the same building for nearly 500 years.

Local man Edward Fennell suggested in 2005 staging an exhibition as part of Hyde 900 that marks the 900th anniversary of the reburial of Alfred the Great in Hyde Abbey in 1110.

More than 100 people gathered at a reception in the discovery centre where the treasures will be on display until May 2.

The artefacts include the abbot’s crozier, precious medieval books and stonework. There is also a copy of the petition that urged the Pope to allow Henry VIII to divorce Catherine of Aragon. It was signed by the Abbot of Hyde.

The artefacts have been borrowed from places such as the British Museum and the V&A Museum.

Speaking at the reception, the mayor Dominic Hiscock paid tribute to the dynamism of people in the Winchester suburb of Hyde who created Hyde 900 and the exhibition.

“Hyde is a special place. It buzzes with energy and generosity of spirit that so often seems to have disappeared from Britain’s streets and estates,” he said.

Mr Fennell, of Egbert Road, Hyde, said the abbey had been destroyed and its stones reused and documents scattered across England. “”In some ways this was a metaphor for the way that although history is often forgotten its effects are still felt centuries later. By reuniting these treasures, people today would get a deeper and richer insight into where they live and where they come from.”