THE statue of King Alfred, the symbol of Winchester, is set to be swathed in glorious light from next week.

The 100-year-old statue in The Broadway currently stands in the dark but that will change on Tuesday.

Then England's greatest king will be illuminated with new, more powerful lighting after a ceremony at 4.30pm undertaken by the mayor Georgina Busher.

The new lighting has been installed thanks to four-figure sponsorship from a local firm of solicitors, White and Bowker.

Niall Brook, chairman of the firm, based in St Peter Street, said: "We decided to provide the new floodlighting system to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the partnership.

"Lighting the magnificent statue seemed a particularly appropriate way of marking the occasion, since it was a former partner of White and Bowker who, as mayor, had the statue installed a century ago."

The ceremony has been timed for after dark to maximise the impact of the switch-on.

The bronze figure was created by Arno Thorneycroft and erected in 1901 to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Alfred's death.

Alfred, who made Winchester his capital, has often been in the spotlight in recent years with archaeological work to discover his grave on the site of Hyde Abbey in Winchester.

Alfred has been called the founder of England as he was the first king to unite the English into one kingdom against the Vikings. He was a patron of the arts and of education.

For a brief period Winchester was the most important place in the country. The city centre street pattern was laid down in Alfred's day.