Winchester

(Rom. Venta Belgarum ). A town of England, capital of Hampshire. It is a very ancient town, whose erection may reasonably be ascribed to the Celtic Britons. It was taken by the Saxons in 495, and by the Danes in 871-73; and was ravaged by Sweyn in 1013. Winchester was several times taken and retaken between 1641 and 1643; it was taken by Cromwell, and the castle dismantled in 1645.