Few buildings in England carry the weight of history quite like Winchester Cathedral. Rising above the old capital of Anglo-Saxon England, it has stood for more than nine centuries as a place of worship, pilgrimage, and national significance. Its story is one of kings and bishops, saints and scholars, Norman masons and Victorian restorers, all leaving their mark on the fabric of this immense Gothic landmark.
This is not just a church, but a chronicle in stone – charting the course of English history from the early medieval world of William the Conqueror to the modern day.
Origins, the Old Minster and a city of kings
Long before the present cathedral was built, Winchester was already a centre of faith. The first Christian church here was the Old Minster, founded around 648 under King Cenwalh of Wessex. For over 400 years it was the spiritual heart of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Kings of Wessex were buried there, including Alfred the Great, and it was the seat of Saint Swithun, Winchester’s patron saint.
By the 11th century, however, the Old Minster was showing its age. With the arrival of the Normans after 1066, a new wave of monumental church building swept across England. The ambitious Bishop Walkelin, appointed by William the Conqueror, was determined to give Winchester a cathedral that would rival anything on the continent.
Bishop Walkelin and the Norman masterpiece
Construction began in 1079. Bishop Walkelin, a relative of William the Conqueror, wasted little time. The scale was vast: a cruciform design in the Romanesque style, with thick stone walls, rounded arches, and towering pillars. To supply the building, William granted Walkelin the use of timber from the royal forest at Hempage Wood. According to chroniclers, in a single day his workmen felled an entire tract of woodland for the beams, a feat so excessive it was never repeated.
The new cathedral was consecrated in 1093, with monks processing from the Old Minster into their new home. The older church was soon demolished, its remains buried beneath the shadow of the cathedral that replaced it.
A resting place for royalty
Winchester’s status as a royal and ecclesiastical centre meant the cathedral became the burial place of kings. William II, son of the Conqueror, was interred here after being killed in the New Forest in 1100. The bones of Saxon kings, including Alfred’s descendants, were transferred from the Old Minster to mortuary chests still visible today, perched on stone screens in the choir. These contain the remains of early English royalty, though centuries of disturbance mean the exact identities are now uncertain.
Gothic transformation
Although Walkelin’s Norman structure formed the core, the cathedral did not remain frozen in time. Over the centuries, it was gradually reshaped into a Gothic wonder. In the 14th century, Bishop William of Wykeham, one of medieval England’s most powerful clerics, oversaw a dramatic remodelling of the nave. The massive Romanesque arches were cut back and replaced with soaring pointed Gothic arches and a delicate tracery of stone. The effect was breathtaking: today Winchester boasts the longest Gothic nave in Europe, an avenue of stone that seems to stretch endlessly towards the altar.
Other parts of the building were similarly transformed. The Lady Chapel was enriched with medieval wall paintings, the choir stalls were finely carved, and a great window of stained glass illuminated the nave. This window would later be shattered in the Civil War, its fragments painstakingly reassembled in a mosaic-like patchwork that still glows with colour today.
Pilgrimage and Saint Swithun
For medieval pilgrims, Winchester Cathedral was inseparable from the cult of Saint Swithun. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester in the 9th century, was buried humbly outside the Old Minster at his own request. But in 971 his remains were moved indoors, sparking a wave of miracles. He quickly became one of England’s most popular saints, with pilgrims travelling to Winchester to pray at his shrine.
The shrine stood behind the high altar, glittering with gold and precious stones, until its destruction during the Reformation. Today only fragments remain, but the association lingers in the well-known legend that if it rains on St Swithun’s Day (15 July), it will rain for forty days.
Winchester Cathedral and the English Reformation
The 16th century brought turbulence. Henry VIII’s break with Rome and the dissolution of the monasteries saw the cathedral’s monastic community disbanded in 1539. Relics were destroyed, treasures stripped, and the shrine of St Swithun demolished. Yet the building itself survived, reconstituted as the seat of a new Protestant chapter.
The wedding of Mary I to Philip of Spain in 1554 was a rare moment of Catholic revival. But under Elizabeth I, the cathedral adapted once more to the Protestant settlement, its medieval splendour somewhat muted but its role as a national church maintained.
Civil War and decline
During the English Civil War in the 1640s, Winchester suffered. Parliamentary soldiers ransacked the cathedral, smashing stained glass and defacing monuments. The great west window, filled with medieval glass, was destroyed, only to be pieced together later in a remarkable act of salvage.
By the 17th and 18th centuries, the building had slipped into a state of neglect. The marshy ground on which it stood led to structural problems, with cracks appearing and walls subsiding. The great east end seemed in danger of collapse.
William Walker: the diver who saved the cathedral
The early 20th century brought one of the most remarkable episodes in the cathedral’s history. By 1905, the eastern end was on the verge of falling down. The problem was that the foundations lay in waterlogged ground. To shore them up, workmen needed to dig trenches beneath the walls and pack them with concrete. But the flooding made this impossible.
Enter William Walker, a deep-sea diver from Portsmouth. From 1906 to 1911, Walker worked six hours a day in complete darkness beneath the cathedral, laying bags of concrete and bricks to stabilise the foundations. Dressed in a heavy diving suit and helmet, he single-handedly saved the building from collapse. His heroism is commemorated with a statue inside the cathedral, and he remains one of its unsung saviours.
Jane Austen and literary connections
Winchester Cathedral is also a place of literary pilgrimage. The novelist Jane Austen, who spent her final days in Winchester in 1817, is buried in the north aisle. At first her memorial stone made no mention of her writing, but later tablets were added celebrating her as one of England’s greatest authors. Visitors from around the world come to pay their respects, making her grave one of the cathedral’s most visited sites.
The cathedral has also inspired poetry and prose. Thomas Hardy referenced it, Izaak Walton (author of The Compleat Angler) is buried there, and Anthony Trollope set part of his Barchester Chronicles in a thinly disguised Winchester.
Restoration and preservation
Throughout the Victorian period, the cathedral underwent major restorations. The architect George Gilbert Scott led efforts to repair and renew the medieval fabric, adding new stonework where necessary. Though controversial – some critics accused the Victorians of overzealous “improvement” – these efforts ensured the building’s survival into the modern age.
Today conservation is an ongoing task. From the medieval tiles in the floor to the soaring Gothic vaults, every part of Winchester requires care. Stonemasons still work on site, keeping alive traditions that date back to Walkelin’s day.
Music, worship, and living heritage
Winchester is not simply a monument but a living cathedral. Its choral tradition is among the finest in the country, with daily services echoing with the voices of choristers. The cathedral close, with its historic buildings and tranquil lawns, continues to be a hub of community life.
Major national events are still marked here. From royal weddings to memorial services, Winchester retains its place in the fabric of English identity. Festivals, concerts, and exhibitions now bring thousands of visitors each year, blending heritage with contemporary culture.
Architecture in detail
The cathedral today is an eclectic mix of architectural styles.
- The Nave: The longest Gothic nave in Europe, remodelled under William of Wykeham, with soaring arches and clerestory windows.
- The Crypt: A haunting Romanesque space, often flooded, now home to Antony Gormley’s modern statue Sound II.
- The Choir: Richly carved medieval stalls, many original, with misericords depicting everyday scenes alongside sacred motifs.
- The Lady Chapel: Decorated with delicate medieval wall paintings, rare survivors of pre-Reformation art.
- The Great Screen: A 15th-century masterpiece of Perpendicular Gothic stone carving, once painted and gilded, towering behind the high altar.
Every corner holds a different chapter of English art and devotion.
Winchester Cathedral today, a place of pilgrimage and discovery
Visitors to Winchester Cathedral encounter not just a building but a thousand years of layered history. Here lie the bones of kings, the resting place of Jane Austen, the shrine of Saint Swithun, and the legacy of a diver who saved it from ruin. Its stones bear the marks of Norman conquerors, medieval bishops, Reformation zealots, Civil War soldiers, and Victorian restorers.
For all its grandeur, it remains deeply human – a place of prayer, of memory, of story. To step inside Winchester Cathedral is to step into the living history of England itself.
Practical information
Getting here: Winchester is easily reached by train from London Waterloo in around an hour. The cathedral is a short walk from the station through the historic city centre.
Opening times: Open daily, though times vary for services and special events. Entry fees apply for visitors, with free access for worship. Check the Winchester Cathedral website for latest up to date information.
Highlights not to miss:
- The breathtaking Gothic nave
- Mortuary chests of Saxon kings
- Jane Austen’s grave
- The flooded crypt with Gormley’s Sound II
- The medieval wall paintings in the Lady Chapel
