A survey conducted by Hampshire County Council has revealed that Winchester Cathedral is Hampshire residents’ number one cultural attraction to visit.

The street survey was carried out across five areas of the county and of the 500 interviewed, one in five named the city’s cathedral as Hampshire’s most inspiring place to visit followed by Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard (12.4 per cent), Marwell Wildlife and Queen Elizabeth Country Park sharing third place (12.2 per cent) and Beaulieu coming in fourth (11.6 per cent).

With only 68.4 per cent of those surveyed admitting to visiting a Hampshire attraction once a year or less, the Council’s culture-all campaign is encouraging residents to spend days out in the exciting and vibrant county to celebrate its diverse range of attractions.
One of the least popular cultural activities proved to be arts and crafts with only five per cent of people visiting once a month, while the majority favoured outdoor pursuits such as country parks, sporting attractions and amusement parks more.

Speaking for Winchester Cathedral, development and communications manager Simon Barwood, said that the Cathedral is delighted to have been recognised as one of the top places to visit in Hampshire: “This represents not only the Cathedral’s place as a heritage site, but also as a centre for the arts and a focal point for community activities. Of particular importance to us at the Cathedral is working in partnership with the city and county councils, and also with other visitor and cultural attractions in the region, reinforcing Hampshire and Winchester as great places to visit.

Executive member for culture and recreation at Hampshire County Council, Councillor Margaret Snaith-Tempia, said: “Congratulations to Winchester Cathedral whose ongoing programme of services and special events has won it the title of Hampshire’s most inspiring place to visit. The survey provided us with an interesting insight into public opinion of the county attractions

“We’d really like to see more Hampshire residents getting out there and enjoying the great attractions that are right on their doorstep, from museums and libraries to country parks and sport.  One of the best ways to do this is with a culture-all passport, which allows a family free, unlimited access to all Hampshire County Council paid entry museums, attractions and countryside sites for a year. It’s a brilliant way to keep the family entertained on the weekends and stimulate minds.”

For more information on the culture-all campaign and Hampshire’s diverse range of attractions, visit www.hants.gov.uk/culture-all