Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral is a cathedral of the Church of England in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It is one of the largest cathedrals in Europe, with the greatest overall length of any Gothic cathedral.
Dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul and, before the Reformation, Saint Swithun, it is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and centre of the Diocese of Winchester. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building.
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Pre-Norman cathedral
The cathedral was founded in 642 on a site immediately to the north of the present one. This building became known as the Old Minster. It became part of a monastic settlement in 971.
Saint Swithun was buried near the Old Minster and then in it, before being moved to the new Norman cathedral. So-called[5] mortuary chests said to contain the remains of Saxon kings such as King Eadwig of England and his wife Ælfgifu, first buried in the Old Minster, are in the present cathedral. The Old Minster was demolished in 1093, immediately after the consecration of its successor.
Architectural history of new cathedral
Norman
In 1079, Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester, began work on a completely new cathedral.[6] Much of the limestone used to build the structure was brought across from quarries around Binstead, Isle of Wight. Nearby Quarr Abbey draws its name from these workings, as do several nearby places such as Stonelands and Stonepitts. The remains of the Roman trackway used to transport the blocks are still evident across the fairways of the Ryde Golf Club, where the stone was hauled from the quarries to the hythe at the mouth of Binstead Creek, and thence by barge across the Solent and up to Winchester.[citation needed]
The building was consecrated in 1093. On 8 April of that year, according to the Annals of Winchester, "in the presence of almost all the bishops and abbots of England, the monks came with the highest exultation and glory from the old minster to the new one: on the Feast of S. Swithun they went in procession from the new minster to the old one and brought thence S. Swithun's shrine and placed it with honour in the new buildings, and on the following day Walkelin's men first began to pull down the old minster."[6]
A substantial amount of the fabric of Walkelin's building, including crypt, transepts and the basic structure of the nave, survives.[7] The original crossing tower, however, collapsed in 1107, an accident blamed by the cathedral's medieval chroniclers on the burial of the dissolute William Rufus beneath it in 1100.[6] Its replacement, which survives today, is still in the Norman style, with round-headed windows. It is a squat, square structure, 50 feet (15 m) wide, but rising only 35 feet (11 m) above the ridge of the transept roof. The Tower is 150 feet (46 m) tall.
Gothic
After the consecration of Godfrey de Luci as bishop in 1189, a retrochoir was added in the Early English style. The next major phase of rebuilding was not until the mid-14th century, under bishops Edington and Wykeham.[10] Edingdon (1346–1366)[11] removed the two westernmost bays of the nave, built a new west front and began the remodelling of the nave.
Under William of Wykeham (1367–1404) the Romanesque nave was transformed,[clarification needed] recased in Caen stone and remodelled in the Perpendicular style,[13] with its internal elevation divided into two, rather than the previous three, storeys.[14] The wooden ceilings were replaced with stone vaults.
Wykeham's successor, Henry of Beaufort (1405–1447) carried out fewer alterations, adding only a chantry on the south side of the retrochoir, although work on the nave may have continued through his episcopy.[15] His successor, William of Waynflete (1447–1486), built another chantry in a corresponding position on the north side. Under Peter Courtenay (Bishop 1486–1492) and Thomas Langton (1493–1500), there was more work. De Luci's Lady chapel was lengthened, and the Norman side aisles of the presbytery replaced. In 1525, Richard Foxe (Bishop 1500–1528) added the side screens of the presbytery, which he also gave a wooden vault.[10] With its progressive extensions, the east end is now about 110 feet (34 m) beyond that of Walkelin's building.