The Chesil Rectory Poem

The Chesil Rectory occupies a 600-year-old medieval house and has run as a restaurant for over 75 years. This year we are celebrating 14 years under our ownership! To mark this special occasion, we are paying our respects to our remarkable building and its history by printing 50 copies of a poem originally published in The Hampshire Chronicle in 1905. At this time, The Chesil Rectory’s future was in jeopardy - there were threats to completely demolish the building, so the community came together and wrote this powerful poem in a bid to save it! Each handprinted A3 poem costs £30 and comes packaged in a hardback envelope. Your limited edition print can be delivered through Royal Mail or collected for free from The Chesil Rectory.

Steeped in history, the medieval Chesil Rectory building is now the oldest commercial property in Winchester. A restaurant for the last 75 years, it was taken over in 2008 by the current team. The city of Winchester has played an important part throughout history. During Saxon times, King Alfred, who was crowned here in 871, made Winchester a royal city. It became the centre of Wessex, the capital of England and remained a royal residence for many centuries.

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