Old Minster, Winchester Old Minster, Winchester The Old Minster was the Anglo-Saxon cathedral for the diocese of Wessex and then Winchester from 660 to 1093. It stood on a site immediately north of and partially beneath its successor, Winchester Cathedral. The minster was constructed in 648 for King Cenwalh of Wessex as the church of St Peter and St Paul. It became a cathedral when the West Saxon bishopric was transferred from Dorchester-on-Thames in the 660s. It was enlarged and redecorated over the years and Saint Swithun was buried outside it in 862. By the 10th century, the Minster was the priory church
Patron saint city's patron saint – such a practice conferred considerable prestige on the city concerned. In Latin America and the Philippines, Spanish and Portuguese explorers often named a location for the saint on whose feast or commemoration they first visited the place, with that saint naturally becoming the area's patron. Professions sometimes have a patron saint owing to that individual being involved somewhat with it, although some of the connections were tenuous. Lacking such a saint, an occupation would have a patron whose acts or miracles in some way recall the profession. For example, when the previously unknown profession of photography