King's House, Winchester

The King's House in Winchester was a late 17th century planned royal palace in the English county of Hampshire. Winchester had been the capital of Wessex and England in Anglo-Saxon times, but became a backwater after the Norman Conquest.

Built for King Charles II of England by Sir Christopher Wren from 1683, the King's House stood on a site adjoining the castle it was to replace, and modelled after the Palace of Versailles, though on a somewhat smaller scale. It was to have sweeping views, walks and gardens descending to the cathedral. Although structurally completed, money ran out and the project was eventually abandoned. The building was gutted by fire in 1894 and demolished.

Columns and parts of the decorative masonry were reused in the superb Peninsula Barracks building which replaced it in 1900.

In the late Twentieth Century, the MoD sold most of the barracks for private flats, retaining some space for [http://www.winchestermilitarymuseums.co.uk/ six military museums] , specifically the museums of the Gurkhas, the King's Royal Hussars, The Light Infantry, the Royal Hampshire Regiment, the Adjutant General's Corps and the Royal Green Jackets.