Avington 002

Avington 002

The Gospel Oak, Avington Park, (Hampage Wood), c.1910

A legend says that when Winchester Cathedral was being built, Bishop Walkelin being in need of timber asked William the Conqueror for the gift of as much timber as he could carry away from Hampage Wood in four days and nights. The king consented, and the bishop, having collected all the woodmen from the surrounding country, managed to clear the wood with the exception of the one tree under which St. Augustine was said to have preached. The hollow shell of a tree, kept together by iron bands and protected by an iron fence, still stands in the wood, and is known locally as Hampage or Gospel Oak

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