Winchester Cathedral is one of the largest cathedrals in England with the longest nave and greatest overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe. There’s been a church on this site since 642. The first building there was called the Old Minster and it was just north of the present site. The Old Minster was torn down when the new building was finished.
In 1079, Walkelin, the Bishop of Winchester began construction of the New Minster and it was consecrated in 1093. Most of the fabric of the original building still exists today in the crypt, transepts and basic structure of the nave. There have been many restorations and reconstructions of the building but the most important occurred from 1905 to 1912. The south and east walls were waterlogged, having been built on unstable land. A diver, William Walker, was hired to pack the foundations with 25,000 bags of concrete, 115,000 concrete blocks and 900,000 bricks. Walker worked 6 hours a day from 1906-1912 diving down up to 20 feet in total darkness. He is credited with saving the cathedral.
There were some famous people buried here. Most of the bones are in mortuary chests and have been jumbled together and are unidentifiable. They include Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester, and builder of the New Minster, many Kings of Wessex including Cynegils, Egbert, Ethelwulf, Eadred and Eadwig, the Danish King Cnut and his wife Emma of Normandy and William Rufus, King of England and son of William the Conqueror. Originally, King Alfred the Great and his son King Edward the Elder were buried but their remains were later removed to Hyde Abbey just outside the walls of the city of Winchester.
The Freelance History Writer 
[…] the wedding. Because Wykeham was the primary prelate who had lent him money, Henry may have chosen Winchester Cathedral for the ceremony as a special favor to the bishop. In Wykeham’s stead, Henry’s half-brother, […]
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[…] the Vexin, the borderlands between Normandy and France. The formal marriage ceremony took place at Winchester Cathedral in August 1172 when seventeen-year-old Henry was crowned King of England a second time. Although […]
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[…] dynasty would bring back the golden age of the legendary king. Arthur’s christening took place at Winchester Cathedral. The baptism rites followed the etiquette observed for all of King Edward IV’s ten children. He […]
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[…] charter with her husband for the foundation of the abbey at Reading and was a patron of Waltham, Winchester Cathedral, Eynsham, St Sauveur in the Totentin, Osney and the orders of the Cistercians and the […]
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An amazing place! I used to work in Winchester and visited both the Cathedral and the Castle with its huge round table, supposed to be that of King Arthur. The inside of the Cathedral is awe-inspiring. I would love to go back!
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The next time I visit England, I will definitely visit Winchester Cathedral Jo. They have the bones of all those early kings there.
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I don’t know what’s wrong with WordPress. I’m not getting half the emails notifying me of new posts here and the posts aren’t appearing in my reader either. I’ll have to catch up on my reading, enjoying all the history!
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WordPress is acting kooky for me too. Please enjoy catching up! Susan
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