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
St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham Aston Hall, near Stafford. After Sir Thomas's death, his widow moved to a smaller residence and their chaplain, Fr Benjamin Hulme found the dusty velvet-covered box of relics under the altar, when he cleared out the chapel. Fr Hulme presented the relics to Bishop Walsh, who was in the process of deciding upon a suitable patronal dedication for his new cathedral. So it was that the relics of the saint who was the apostle of the Midlands in the 7th century were enshrined above the altar. It is the only cathedral in England which has the relics of its patron