Winchester monarchs such as King Canute and William Rufus. It was once an important pilgrimage centre and housed the shrine of Saint Swithun. The ancient Pilgrims' Way travelling to Canterbury begins at Winchester. The plan of the earlier Old Minster is laid out in the grass adjoining the cathedral. The New Minster (the original burial place of Alfred the Great and Edward the Elder) once stood beside it. The cathedral has a girls choir and a boys choir, which sing on a regular basis at the cathedral. Winchester Cathedral Close contains a number of historic buildings from the time when the
Saint George's Day in England of England (the Saint George's Cross), which in the 1980s had mostly been reserved for political English nationalism, started to be displayed as representing England by football fans since the mid-1990s, and the flag is now frequently flown throughout the country both privately and by local authorities. In parallel, a revival of St George's Day as an English national holiday has been encouraged by organisations such as English Heritage and the Royal Society of Saint George, partly in reaction to calls to replace St George as patron saint of England. including a 2003 BBC Radio 4 poll on the subject.