Winchester poster – Claude Buckle – 1950

Winchester poster Where History Lingers poster – Claude Buckle – 1950

This vintage Winchester railway poster is one of a series of four created as part of the British Railways’ ongoing See Britain by Train advertising campaign. The set of four posters featured places of historical significance leading with the strapline: Where History Lingers. The four chosen destinations for the railway posters being Hampton Court, Canterbury, Salisbury, and the one on this listing, Winchester. The British Railways poster focuses on the Marriage of Mary Tudor and Philip of Spain in 1554.

Following the passing of her half-brother Edward VI at the age of fifteen, Mary Tudor, as the only surviving child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon became the rightful heir to the English throne. However Edward did not want the crown to go to Mary because he feared, quite rightly, she would restore Catholicism and undo his and their father’s reforms, and so he planned to exclude her from the line of succession.

In an attempt to keep the crown in the Protestant faith and following Edward’s will, his regents, the Lords of Somerset and Northumberland, altered the order of succession to favor Henry VIII’s niece Lady Jane Gray as next in line to the throne. the Privy Council made Jane queen on 10 July 1553.

However, because of Mary’s overwhelming popularity with the public or possibly because of the military might she had assembled at her Norfolk estates, the Privy Council switched their allegiance and after just nine days, proclaimed Mary queen in London, on 19 July. At first, her ruling council was a mixture of both Protestants and Catholics, but as her reign progressed she sought more and more to return England to the Catholic Church and restore English Catholicism. At age 37, Mary turned her attention to finding a husband and producing an heir which would prevent the Protestant Elizabeth from being next in line to the throne.
There were several prospective suitors with the Lord Chancellor and the House of Commons unsuccessfully petitioning the Queen to marry an Englishman. Mary’s cousin the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V suggested she marry his only son Prince Philip of Spain. As part of the marriage negotiations, a portrait of Philip, by Titian was sent to her. The queen was smitten.
An official proposal of marriage was presented to Mary on October 10th 1553. After deliberating for two weeks, Mary accepted the offer. However, the decision was not popular with an English public opposed to accepting a foreign king. To the point where insurrections broke out when Thomas Wyatt led a force from Kent to depose Mary in favour of Elizabeth. The event part of a wider conspiracy now known as Wyatt’s Rebellion.
Despite the uprisings, the popular anti-Catholic sentiment that existed in England at the time and the Privy Councils attempt to get her to change her mind, the wedding day was set.

The couple were married in Winchester Cathedral on July 25th 1554, just two days after meeting for the first time. The Lord Chancellor, Stephen Gardner, who was also Bishop of Winchester, conducted the marriage ceremony. The service was conducted in both Latin and English.

The marriage wasn’t a very happy one. After becoming King of Spain, Philip spent a great deal of time in Spain looking after problems associated with his kingdom and empire. This gave him the excuse not to be in England for any length of time. The marriage failed to produce an heir. Therefore, on Mary’s death Elizabeth became the legal successor to the throne. 

Mary’s reign lasted just five years. She is best remembered for burning 280 English Protestants at the stake for heresy, earning her the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’

The history.com website explains; Mary soon moved from simply reversing her father’s and Edward’s anti-Catholic policies to actively persecuting Protestants. In 1555 she revived England’s heresy laws and began burning offenders at the stake, starting with her father’s longtime advisor Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury. Almost 300 convicted heretics, mostly common citizens, were burned. Dozens more died in prison, and some 800 fled to Protestant strongholds in Germany and Geneva.

It’s all really a far cry from the scene Claude Buckle created for the idyllic scene on the poster.Original copies of this Where the history lingers Winchester poster, in excellent condition, currently sell for in excess of £1500 .

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears, or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and frame for a great price.