Things to do in Chichester
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Chichester Cathedral
This understated cathedral was begun in 1075 and largely rebuilt in the 13th century. The freestanding church tower, now in fairly bad shape, was built in the 15th century and the spire dates from the 19th century when its predecessor famously toppled over. Inside, three storeys of beautiful arches sweep upwards, and Romanesque carvings are dotted around. Interesting features to track down include a smudgy stained-glass window added by Marc Chagall in 1978 and a glassed-over section of Roman mosaic flooring about a metre below ground level.
Guided tours operate at 11.15am and 2.30pm Monday to Saturday, Easter to October, and the excellent cathedral choir is guaranteed to …
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Pallant House
Based in a wonderful Queen Anne town house once owned by a wealthy wine merchant, Pallant House is now an outstanding art gallery. Reopened with a swish new wing in 2006, it houses a superb collection of 20th-century British art, with names such as Caulfield, Freud, Sutherland and Moore represented. There are also historic works from British and international artists, from Picasso to Cézanne, Gainsborough to Rembrandt.
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St Martin's Tea Rooms
A little cocoon of nooks and crannies tucked away in a part-18th-century, part-medieval town house, this passionately organic cafe serves freshly ground coffee, wholesome, mostly vegetarian, food and a sinful selection of desserts. There's also a guest piano with which to shatter the tranquil scene if you so wish.
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Church of the Greyfriars
If you fancy a stroll in the park, it's worth a peek at the remains of this Franciscan church, built in the northeastern corner of the town in 1269. After dissolution in 1536 the structure became the guildhall and later a court of law, where William Blake was tried for sedition in 1804.
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West's Bar & Lounge
Tempt God to strike you down by doing shots, downing cocktails and watching football in this converted Gothic church opposite the cathedral. Its soaring arches, dark wooden ceiling and candlelit tables add weight and atmosphere to what's basically just a trendy wine bar.
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Chichester Festival Theatre
This somewhat Soviet-looking playhouse was built in 1962 and has a long and distinguished history. Sir Laurence Olivier was the theatre's first director and Ingrid Bergman, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Anthony Hopkins are a few of the other famous names to have played here.
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Guided tours
Guided tours through the Chichester Cathedral operate at 11:15 and 14:30 Monday to Saturday, Easter to October, and the excellent cathedral choir are guaranteed to give you goose bumps during the daily Evensong (17:30 Mon-Sat, 15:30 Sun).
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Woodies Wine Bar & Brasserie
This classy but relaxed, lively but romantic restaurant has a darkly beamed front and a rustic-chic conservatory dotted with citrus trees and entwined with grapevines and fairy lights at the back. It serves quality Mediterranean food.
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Comme Ça
Run by a Franco-English couple, this friendly French place does traditional Normandy cuisine in a converted Georgian inn, with a lovely vine-covered alfresco area. It's a short walk north of the centre.
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Cloisters Cafe
Sparkling marble-floored cafe in the cathedral grounds with sunny walled garden and airy atmosphere. It's a good spot for simple sandwiches, cakes and fair-trade drinks.
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Wests Bar
Occupying every nook and chapel of a large church opposite the cathedral entrance, this daytime temple to tummy-packing and evening ale sanctuary allows you to refuel and kick back in an incongruously ecclesiastical setting. The sinful menu of British pub favourites, pseudo-Italian concoctions and spicy fare is sure to bust your bible belt and invoke a holy thirst.
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Pallant House Gallery
A Queen Anne mansion built by a local wine merchant, handsome Pallant House, along with a recently opened modern wing, hosts this superb gallery that focuses on 20th-century, mostly British, art. Showstoppers such as Caulfield, Freud, Sutherland, Auerbach and Moore are interspersed with international names such as Filla, Le Corbusier and Kitaj. Most of these older works are in the mansion while the new wing is packed with pop art and temporary shows of modern and contemporary work.
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Market Cross
Chichester's epicentre is marked by a dinky market building constructed in 1501 by the bishop of the time to enable impoverished locals to sell their wares without paying hefty market fees.
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Guildhall
This church building is all that remains of a Franciscan monastery, which didn't survive Henry VIII's 1536 Dissolution. The church later served as a court of law, where William Blake was tried for sedition in 1804, and Chichester's first museum.
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Field & Fork
In the new wing of the Pallant House Gallery, this sophisticated eatery has paintings and display cases, and a sunny courtyard that's a good spot for sandwiches, cakes and heartier main meals.
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District Museum
The eclectic collections once housed at the Guildhall can now be viewed at this somewhat ramshackle museum where the ground-floor Roman finds and mosaic fragments are the clear-cut winners.
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