A NOTE ON ST. CATHERINE'S HILL AND CHAPEL
St. Catherine's Hill, near Winchester, is a
steep sided hill of oval form on the eastern
edge of the Itchen valley.
Its summit was occupied, an open settlement
—
later fortified by the girdle of earthwork,
from the 6th to the 2nd century B.C.
A small chapel, possibly of late Saxon
origin, was erected on the summit: before the
middle of the 12th century this was used to
form part of a larger Norman building. The
chapel was dismantled during the reign of Henry
VIII. Parts of it remain beneath a low mound.
The labyrinth, a square turf-cut maze, was
supposedly cut by an outcast pupil from
Winchester College. Its actual origin is
unknown.
Source: 'Proceedings of the
Hampshire Field
Club and Archaeological Society —
Vol. XI. 1930.'
