Winchester Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,[2] Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun,[3] commonly known as Winchester Cathedral, is the cathedral of the city of Winchester, England, and is among the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and is the mother church for the ancient Diocese of Winchester. It is run by a dean and chapter, under the Dean of Winchester.
For other uses, see Winchester Cathedral (disambiguation).Winchester Cathedral
England
Grade I
24 March 1950[1]
1079–1532
1079
558 ft 1 in (170.1 m)
82 feet (25 m) (including aisles)
78 feet (24 m)
53,480 square feet (4,968 m2)
150 feet (46 m)
14 + sharp 4th and flat 8th
35 long cwt 2 qr 6 lb (3,982 lb / 1,806 kg)
Winchester (since c. 650)
Andy Trenier (& Sacrist)
Roland Riem (Vice-Dean & Pastor)
Gary Philbrick
Dr Tess Kuin Lawton
The cathedral as it stands today was built from 1079 to 1532 and is dedicated to numerous saints, most notably Swithun of Winchester. It has a very long and very wide nave in the Perpendicular Gothic style, an Early English retrochoir, and Norman transepts and tower. With an overall length of 558 feet (170 m), it is the longest medieval cathedral in the world,[4] and only surpassed by the more recent churches of St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York City and the Basilica of Our Lady in Aparecida. With an area of 53,480 square feet (4,968 m2),[5] it is also the sixth-largest cathedral by area in the UK, surpassed only by Liverpool, St Paul's, York, Westminster (RC) and Lincoln.
A major tourist attraction, the cathedral attracted 365,000 visitors in 2019, an increase of 12,000 from 2018.[6]
History[edit]
Earlier buildings[edit]
Though churches were recorded in Winchester as early as 164, the first Christian church can be traced back to c. 648, when King Cenwalh of Wessex built a small, cross-shaped building just north of the present building.[5][7][8][9] This building, known as the Old Minster, became the cathedral for the new Diocese of Winchester in 662,[7][10] a vast area stretching from the English Channel to the River Thames, the bishopric having been transferred from Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire by Bishop Wine. The design of this early church cannot be confirmed, for no trace other than ground plan exists today, but Wolstan mentions a gateway tower situated some distance from the west end.[8] Wine died in c. 672, but one of his later successors, Swithun, would become one of the most famous Bishops of Winchester.
Whether Swithun himself oversaw any expansion of the Old Minster is unknown, but it is recorded in Acta Sanctorum that from 963 to 984, Bishop Æthelwold greatly expanded the church, the works being finished by the following Bishop, Alphege.[9] The church was rededicated in 993, and consisted of a central tower, north and south aisles, transepts, crypt and an apse, and was briefly the largest church in Europe. Also on the site was the New Minster, in direct competition with the neighbouring Old Minster. The New Minster was begun by Alfred the Great but completed in 901 by his son Edward the Elder. These two monasteries existed side by side, the monks becoming virtually intertwined with one another. Swithun's body, which according to his wishes had been buried in the graveyard outside the church, was brought inside and housed in a magnificent shrine.[5][7][8][9][10]
Norman cathedral[edit]
When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, he began to install his own bishops in place of the Anglo-Saxon bishops.[7] William installed his friend and relative Walkelin as the first Norman Bishop of Winchester in 1070, and nine years later, in 1079,[11] Walkelin began the construction of a huge new Norman cathedral, on a site just to the south of the Old and New Minsters, the site of the present building.[7][8] The new cathedral was consecrated with the completion of the east end in 1093, and the many tombs of Saxon kings moved from the Old Minster into the new cathedral. The following day, demolition of the New and Old Minsters began, and quickly progressed, leaving virtually no remains. The outline of the Old Minster can still be seen today to the north of the present nave.[7]
Plan of the Cathedral
Norman central tower and north transept
Bishop Edington's west facade
Choir stalls and screen
Choir stalls canopy, organ, tower arch and fan vault
Detail on Lady Chapel
Arches cut into the retrochoir
Reredos and Great Screen - 1450 to 1476
As of 2 January 2021:[89]