Neal, you mentioned that you were thinking about Winchester Cathedral and I would suggest you think also about Claire Austin as an alternative. I have both, and both are lovely, but Claire Austin is much more vigorous and probably more disease resistant. In all honesty, I haven't had any health problems with either, but the David Austin England website describes Winchester Cathedral as having 'average' disease resistance, but Claire Austin as being 'very' resistant.
Winchester C is a shorter plant, about 3.5 ft, Claire Austin can even be used as a climber (up to 12 ft) but of course can be pruned to whatever height you like.
Just a thought...
