7 A Winchester Walk
Chamber Court . Chapel .
1680s , Cloisters found use as a teaching space during the summer , giving rise to the ‘ notion ’ ( Winchester terminology ) of ‘ Cloister Time ’ instead of Summer Term .
Walk around Cloisters to enjoy shifting views of Chapel and Chantry , pausing to step through Bell Gate ( named after a don ( teacher ) killed during the First World War ) and into The Warden ’ s Garden . Here , you will find shrubs , trees , gravelled walks , and one of the finest views of College : the East ranges of Cloisters , Chapel , Chamber Court and the Warden ’ s Lodgings . The large projecting block at the centre of the Chamber Court range once served as the garderobe ( College lavatory ), offensive waste swept away by a diversion of the Logie ( the stream ) out towards the Itchen .
Cloisters also reveal the difficulties of the site chosen by Wykeham . The land on which the school was built was once a water meadow . Before stones and bricks were laid , builders had first to ram wooden stakes into the ground to create foundations , a solution for soft ground also used in Venice . Though Winchester ’ s buildings are mercifully not sinking at a Venetian rate , subsidence is clear in the arcades of Cloisters