TO celebrate one of Wessex’s greatest kings, Winchester heritage group Hyde900 are putting on a weekend in his honour.

King Alfred Weekend runs from today until October 28 and ties in with celebrations and remembrance for the centenary of World War One.

Today, the opening event starts at 6pm and will be immediately followed by a welcome from Rev Cliff Banister at 6.30pm.

There will also be a talk presented by Dr Simon Roffey on ‘What did the monasteries ever do for us?’. Tickets cost £5 and under 16s go free. These are all in St Bartholomew’s Church.

Hyde Soldiers 1918: Annual Commemoration and Armistice Party 1918-2018, takes place tomorrow. The first event starts at 6.30pm and is free to attend, the second at 8pm and tickets cost £5 on the door, but must be booked in advance. Under 16s go free. The commemoration event takes place at St Bartholomew’s Church, the party at Hyde Parish Hall.

The busiest day is Saturday, October 27, with many events taking place – starting with exhibitions about the community excavation and the story of the County Bridewell. These run from 10.15am to 3.30pm and are free to attend in Hyde Parish Hall. There will also be local history workshops featuring the chance to find out more about the history of your house, in ‘Researching the WWI Soldiers of Hyde’ from 10.30 to 11.10am. The next workshop will be ‘Researching prisoner histories from Winchester in the 18th and 19th centuries’, from 11.15am to 11.55am. Both workshops are free to attend and take place in the Darch Room of Hyde Parish Hall.

On the same day, there will be a war and poetry event from 2-3pm, which costs £5, with under 16s being free at Hyde Parish Hall, and a family-friendly guided-tour of the Hyde Abbey Precincts, which is free and begins at Hyde Gate.

The day will finish off with a performance of The Kingdom of Paul Nash, which costs £5, under 16s go free, and a Remembering King Alfred service, which is free. Both of these are at St Bartholomew’s Church.

The King Alfred service marks the start of Sunday’s events, with the service starting at 9:30am. It is also free to attend at St Bartholomew’s Church. This is followed by free lectures on the legacy of sacred spaces, one entitled ‘Why was Hyde Abbey obliterated?’ from 3-3.50pm, and the other on ‘The story of the County Bridewell’ from 4-5pm. Both take place at Hyde Parish Hall. The final event of the weekend is ‘Rolling Turning Stone’ a sculpture and film projection launch which runs, weather permitting, from 5-5.30pm. This is free, but as it is outside the advice is to wrap up warm. This event takes place in Hyde Gate Chamber.

All events must be pre-booked either online at www.hyde900.org.uk, via email events@hyde900.org.uk, or by calling 01962 864487.