Conservatives name twelve great people who shaped our nation's institutions.
The Conservative Party have sought to boost interest in British history by naming a dozen people who were responsible for building six of the nation's great institutions.
The list includes Winchester's number one citizen, Alfred the Great, who these days watches over his kingdom from pole position in The Broadway.
The initiative follws a recent survey which exposed many school children lacking a basic knowledge of history. The Party - as part of its review of the teaching of history in schools - has worked with a number of distinguished historians to compile the list of men and women who played a lead role in creating the institutions that have shaped our country's history.
The list, which also includes Oliver Cromwell, Sir Robert Peel and NHS founder Nye Bevan, is part of a review that hopes to put a greater emphasis on narrative history - the sort that children find interesting, and which makes the past accessible.
King Alfred the Great, who lives from c 849-899, was a scholar, soldier and statesman who rebuilt Winchester after the Dark Ages and made it his capital. Modern day vistors can take the Winchester Walk, a self-guided tour of King Alfred's city and is available free from the Tourist Information Centre. His last known resting place has now been commemorated with the opening in 2003 of Hyde Abbey Garden, designed by leading landscape architect and former pupil of Winchester College, Kim Wilkie.
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Winchester, Steve Brine, welcomed the list. "I hope it will provoke thought and debate, as a former student of degree level history myself I feel passionaltely that our young people should know where they've come from as much as where they are going."
He added; "We are so lucky to live in a city of such historical importance in Winchester and I know our local schoolchildren are often told the story of Alfred as part of their history classes. I am very proud he has made it onto such a list of the greatest britons".
You can view the full list at: http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=134260