Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest
cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic
cathedral in Europe. Dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul,
and Saint Swithun, it is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and centre of the
Diocese of Winchester.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1079 under bishop Walkelin, and on
April 8, 1093, in the presence of nearly all the bishops and abbots of England,
the monks removed from the Saxon cathedral church of the Old Minster to the new
one, "with great rejoicing and glory" to mark its completion. The earliest part
of the present building is the crypt, which dates from that time. William II of
England and his older brother, Richard, Duke of Bernay are both buried in the
cathedral. The squat, square crossing tower was begun in 1202 to replace an
earlier version which collapsed, partly because of the unstable ground on which
the cathedral is built. It has an indisputably Norman look to it. Work continued
on the cathedral during the 14th century. In 1394 the remodelling of the Norman
nave commenced to the designs of master mason William Wynford, this continued
into the 15th and 16th centuries, notably with the building of the retroquire to
accommodate the many pilgrims to the shrine of Saint Swithun.